September 6, 2023 Back to all news

Just over 3.4 million passengers travelled through Dublin Airport during August as the busy summer holiday season continued.

New figures published today by daa, the operator of Dublin Airport, show that the number of passengers travelling in August was 12% ahead of August 2023. The August total included around 200,000 transfer passengers.

Around 25% more passengers have passed through Dublin Airport so far this year than the first eight months of last year. Passenger numbers in the eight months to August totalled 22 million, with almost half of those (10.1 million) travelling during the busy summer months of June, July and August.  

Dublin Airport recorded its second busiest ever day in August with just shy of 119,000 passengers travelling through on Sunday, August 13. 

The top ten most popular destinations for departing passengers from Dublin Airport this summer (June, July and August combined) were:

  1. London Heathrow
  2. London Gatwick
  3. Amsterdam Schiphol
  4. Malaga
  5. Faro
  6. London Stansted
  7. Manchester
  8. Edinburgh
  9. Birmingham
  10. Barcelona

According to Kenny Jacobs: “August was another busy month for travel as families continued to flock overseas in their droves to escape the miserable weather in Ireland. Destinations such as Malaga, Faro and Barcelona were popular as travellers looked to swap the wind and rain for sunshine and the beach, while the restart of the UK football season in the latter half of the month boosted traffic. We also catered for strong demand too from the business community, which boosted routes to the London airports and also transatlantic services. 

“Passengers have been very positive about the standards they’ve received in Dublin Airport over the summer, with 97 out of every 100 passengers getting through security screening in under 20 minutes, which was even better than the 90% target we set for ourselves. More than two thirds of passengers (71%) have got through security in less than 10 minutes, with 90% through in under 15 minutes. I want to express a sincere thanks to the team at Dublin Airport who have went the extra mile for passengers this summer and delivered standards that are the envy of many other capital city airports all over Europe. 

“Demand for travel remains high for the coming weeks and months. While the return to school marks the end of the peak summer period, September is set to remain busy as older families and younger couples set off to enjoy some autumn sunshine – and child-free swimming pools - in the likes of the Mediterranean and the Canaries. Business travel levels are also set to remain high over the months ahead.

August in Numbers at Dublin Airport  

Number of Passengers 3,400,000
Number of Flights 22,700
Through Security in <20 minutes 97%
Busiest Day of Travel Sunday August 13
Busiest Destination London Heathrow
Flights Departing On-Time ( First Wave) 79%
Load Factor  89%
Baggage Return (average time, first bag) 20 minutes
Carbon per passenger 0.52kg (-12% vs Aug ’22)