New figures released this morning by ACI Europe, which is the trade association for European airports, has found that Dublin Airport was the fastest growing major airport in Europe last year.
The growth at Dublin Airport delivered a new traffic record at Ireland’s key gateway, with almost 28 million passengers welcomed last year. An extra 2.8 million passengers used the airport in 2016, while over the past two years, an additional 6.2 million people passed through Dublin Airport.
After Dublin, in the major airport category came Barcelona’s El-Prat Airport (+11.2%), Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (+9.2%), Copenhagen Airport (+9.1%) and Madrid Barajas (+7.7%)
The passenger growth at Dublin Airport was fuelled by the launch of 19 new routes last year, while additional capacity was added on 31 existing services. Dublin Airport’s growth helped deliver a record-breaking year for Irish tourism in 2016 and also boosted trade and investment.
A 2015 study by economic consultants InterVistas showed that Dublin Airport is a key strategic asset for the Irish economy as it supports or facilitates 97,400 jobs and contributes €6.9 billion to the economy.
This year, Dublin Airport will welcome three new long-haul services – a year-round service to Doha with Qatar Airlines, a summer service to Boston with Delta Air Lines and a summer service to Miami with Aer Lingus – and three new short-haul services.
Speaking today, Dublin Airport Managing Director, Vincent Harrison said, "This new ACI data confirms that Dublin Airport had a record-breaking performance at home and abroad last year. Passenger traffic across the European airport network increased by 5.1% last year, while Dublin Airport increased its traffic by more than twice that amount."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
