317,000 air passengers expected at weekend

Summer is certainly in the air this bank-holiday weekend with more than 317,000 expected to pass through Aer Rianta's airports…

Summer is certainly in the air this bank-holiday weekend with more than 317,000 expected to pass through Aer Rianta's airports at Dublin, Cork and Shannon.

More than 240,000 passengers are due in Dublin Airport - an increase of 20 per cent on last year's August bank holiday weekend. Cork Airport will see a 7 per cent increase with more than 25,000 passengers expected, while Shannon is predicting 52,000 passengers - an increase of 16 per cent on last year.

Aer Lingus will carry more than 140,000 passengers during the coming four days, an increase of 19 per cent on last year. Some 46,000 of these will travel between Ireland and London, Heathrow. Passenger numbers to its US destinations are expected to reach 23,000 - an increase of 16 per cent on last year's numbers.

Ryanair says it is will carry "a record" 150,000 passengers across its entire network over the weekend. This includes its routes between Britain and the Continent. It is putting on an extra 17 flights to accommodate an increase in passenger numbers of 20 per cent on the same weekend last year.

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On the seas, Irish Ferries will carry more than 40,000 passengers on its routes to Britain and France, while Stena Line will transport 60,000 passengers and 10,000 cars between Ireland and Britain.

Iarnrod Eireann is expecting to carry 200,000 passengers during the weekend, with 30 special trains operating in addition to the scheduled timetable.

Normal DART services will be provided, though on bank-holiday Monday a service similar to the regular Sunday service will be in operation. Also on Monday, a Sunday service will operate on the Dublin-Drogheda route and there will be no suburban trains between Dublin-Arklow, Dublin-Kildare and Dublin-Maynooth.

On the Maynooth line, the Lexlip Confey station is closed until August 3rd. Passengers should use the Lexlip Louisa Bridge station instead.

A special train will run from Galway and one from Ennis for the All-Ireland hurling quarterfinal replay on Monday. Iarnrod Eireann says advance purchase of train tickets is essential. Bus Eireann will carry 100,000 passengers over the weekend. Today and tomorrow services will run on the normal weekday timetable, with additional buses on all major routes. On Sunday and Monday, services will operate according to Sunday timetables. Normal services will resume on Tuesday with the following additions: a 5.45 a.m. service from Rosslare Harbour to Dublin and a 6.15 a.m. service from Killarney to Dublin via Limerick. The National Safety Council is urging motorists to maintain the improvement in road death figures achieved so far this year, by not drinking and driving. Last year five people died on the roads during the August bank holiday weekend. It also urges drivers to slow down. "It's not worth it."