Almost 32 Million Through Dublin Airport’s Terminals In 2023

A total of 31.908 million passengers passed through the terminals of Dublin Airport in 2023, in compliance with the 32 million terminals cap, according to new figures released today by daa, the operator of both airports.

The hard-working team at Dublin Airport ensured a consistently smooth experience for passengers throughout 2023, with 97% of passengers passing through security screening in less than 20 minutes – bettering daa’s own stated target of 90% through in under 20 minutes.

The busiest day of the year at Dublin Airport, and indeed in the history of the airport, was Sunday, July 30 when 121,000 passengers travelled through the airport.  In total, there were 241,595 flight movements at Dublin Airport during 2023. 

Kenny Jacobs, CEO of daa, said: “2023 was a very solid year for Dublin Airport as our hard-working teams ensured a consistently smooth and positive experience for all passengers who travelled through the airport. It was a year full of highlights at Dublin Airport, from the arrival of US President Joe Biden and Air Force One in April to the departure and arrival home of the Irish women’s football team and the men’s rugby team to and from their respective World Cups during the summer.” 

“Passenger numbers at Dublin Airport are now 60% higher than they were a decade ago and there is strong demand for further growth, which would continue to bring new jobs and economic growth to Ireland. As it stands, Dublin Airport has room to grow and could comfortably accommodate 35 million passengers per annum with the current infrastructure, but we now face a period of stalled growth as we continue to adhere to the annual terminals cap of 32 million passengers.

 “Existing airline customers want to grow at Dublin and new airline customers want to start flying to and from Dublin. The airline and passenger demand is there, Ireland will lose out to other uncapped hub airports with potential new jobs and new connectivity being be lost until Dublin Airport is allowed to operate to a higher capacity. 

“Dublin Airport last year submitted an Infrastructure Application to Fingal County Council which, if approved, would enable us to take up these growth opportunities for Ireland Inc and increase passenger numbers to 40 million per annum, which would result in more jobs being created and further economic growth. Until this application is approved, Dublin Airport’s terminals will remain capped at 32 million passengers and Ireland will continue to wave goodbye to good jobs and economic growth,” added Jacobs. 

December 2023

Dublin Airport enjoyed a busy end to the year, with 2.3 million passengers travelling through the airport’s terminals in December. The airport facilitated a total of 17,891 flights during the month as thousands returned home to Ireland and overseas to celebrate Christmas with family and friends.  

Standards were very high for passengers in December with 98% of the 1.2 million departing passengers passing through security screening in under 20 minutes, while the average time it took for bags to reach the baggage carousel after their plane arrived at its gate was 17 minutes.  

In December 2023, carbon per passenger at Dublin Airport was 1.0kg, a 4% reduction on December 2022. This data relates to our scope 1 and 2 emissions and a rolling annual average carbon figure. 

* This 1,081,800 figure represents the number of people who connected through the terminals at Dublin Airport (counted once); one person equals one passenger, as opposed to a double count of such people (as they take two flights (1 arriving and 1 departing) for aviation reporting purposes.

** Passengers that did not use the terminals include Transit passengers who do not exit the plane when landing at Dublin Airport, and other categories such as Search and Rescue and Air Ambulance.