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Official end of year figures for Dublin Airport show that more than 17.1 million passengers travelled through the airport last year, an 8% increase over 2003. A total of 1.3 million extra passengers travelled through the airport during 2004.
The main contributors to the growth in traffic were the European and North Atlantic routes. European traffic grew by an impressive 13% with almost seven million passengers travelling in 2004. This growth was supported by the enlargement of the European Union during the year resulting in an increase of 10% in traffic to EU countries.
For the first time in the history of the airport, scheduled traffic on the North American routes exceeded one million passengers. In all more than 1.1 million passengers travelled on the many transatlantic services to and from Dublin Airport, representing an increase of 9% over the same period last year. Traffic to and from the UK grew by 5% to 8.3 million passengers, while domestic traffic recorded an increase of 2% or a total 690,000 passengers.
Last year was an exceptionally busy year for airport with the launch of an additional 35 new routes/services. In all, 10 new airlines were welcomed to the airport in 2004. The airport now has a record 46 scheduled airlines operating to 104 destinations internationally and there is more to come. Already seven services are scheduled to commence operations during the first six months of 2005. Aer Lingus plans to operate services to Seville, Naples, Marseille and Hamburg, while Air Transat will commence services to Toronto. Thompson Fly will begin services to Doncaster and American Airlines are have announced their intention to fly the Dublin-Chicago route.
Commenting on last year’s performance Director of Dublin Airport, Robert Hilliard said “I am delighted that Dublin Airport continues to enjoy above average international growth levels and I am confident that this trend will continue in 2005. This strong contribution to tourism and the economy generally reflects not only the attraction of Ireland as a business and leisure destination, but also the service and value offered by Dublin Airport and its customer airlines. I would like to thank all our customers, airlines and passengers alike, for making 2004 another record year and look forward to working with our new arrivals in 2005.”
Ends
16th January, 2005
Further Information Contact:
Siobhan Moore – 087.2710065
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