Dublin Airport sees 10m passengers in 6 months

Almost 10 million passengers passed through Dublin airport in the first six months of this year, according the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

The figures represent a 15 per cent increase or an additional 1.3 million passengers travelling through the airport over the same period last year.

The airport also saw over two million passengers catered for during the month of June alone - a trend that the Authority expects to continue during the next couple of months.

European traffic increased by 25 per cent to over 4.4. million passengers during the first half of the year and the transatlantic market increased by 7 per cent to more than 586,000 passengers over the same period.

Passenger volumes to and from the UK grew by 6 per cent to more than 4.2 million passengers while domestic traffic recorded a 23 per cent increase to just over 380,000 passengers for the first six months.

"Catering for this phenomenal growth in passenger traffic with no extra terminal capacity is a real challenge for the airport," the Director of Dublin Airport Robert Hilliard said today.

Mr Hilliard said the Authority had taken a number of short-term initiatives such as the removal of non essential services from the Departures Floor and the addition of 8 new temporary boarding gates to improve the overall flow of passengers .

"The main focus now is on gaining more capacity in the medium-term with a new Check-In Area 14, providing 24 additional check-in desks, due for completion in December and Pier D, comprising 14 boarding gates, due for completion in October 2007," Mr Hilliard added.