Record November for Cork and Dublin Airports with 2.8 Million Passengers

Cork and Dublin airports handled more than 2.8 million passengers in November, marking another record-breaking month for the state's two busiest airports with an 11% increase compared to November 2024.

Cork Airport welcomed 214,790 passengers in November, a 7% increase on the same month last year. The growth came as the airport's winter schedule expanded with increased services to major European hubs.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines ramped up operations from two to three daily flights to Amsterdam Schiphol, while Air France extended their previously summer-only Paris Charles de Gaulle service to year-round operation. The new twice-weekly Aer Lingus service to Prague, launched in late October, is already performing strongly.

Sunday, 2 November was the busiest day of the month at both airports, boosted by families and travellers returning from mid-term holidays and visits to family and friends abroad. Cork Airport handled 10,004 passengers on that day.

Dublin Airport saw passenger numbers increase by 11% in November to just over 2.6 million. A total of 10 days saw more than 100,000 passengers passing through, compared with just one such day in November 2024.

Kenny Jacobs, CEO of daa, said:

"There is no let-up in the record demand for flights to and from our island as the year draws to a close. This bodes well for the new National Tourism Strategy published this week, which aims to grow inbound visitor numbers by 15% by 2031. Both Dublin and Cork airports have an important role to play in helping to realise this vision for Ireland."

He added:

"Cork Airport's success in attracting new routes was on show last month, with increased services to major European hubs in Amsterdam and Paris. Aer Lingus' new Prague route is off to a strong start. Work on the ground to enhance Cork Airport is also progressing at pace, with the construction of Cork's new mezzanine floor well underway. This will be the location of the new passenger security area, which will make travelling through the airport even more seamless than before."

Cork Airport maintained impressive performance metrics in November, with 99.1% of passengers passing through security in under 15 minutes and 100% in under 20 minutes. The airport achieved an 80.9% on-time departure rate overall, with first-wave departures reaching 91.8%. The average bag return time was 10 minutes, and the load factor stood at 81%.

The top five destinations from Cork Airport in November were London Heathrow, London Stansted, Manchester, Amsterdam, and Lanzarote.