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Cork Airport enjoyed its busiest January in over six years with over 161,000 passengers travelling through the airport during the opening month of 2023.

The number of passengers travelling through Cork Airport in January was 12% higher than in January 2019 and more than double (149%) the numbers seen in January 2022. 

The early part of January saw some very busy days at Cork Airport as thousands of people travelled home after the Christmas break. Nevertheless, security screening moved smoothly throughout January with 97.7% of passengers passing through in less than 20 minutes and virtually all through in under 30 minutes. 

At Dublin Airport, the other Irish airport operated by daa, the number of passengers in January totalled 2.1 million, which was 113% higher than January 2022 and 2% higher than January 2019. 

Overall, the total number of passengers carried by daa’s two Irish operated airports during January this year was 2.27 million, up from 2.15 million in January 2019 and 956,000 in January 2022.

Reacting to the January performance at daa’s Irish airports, daa CEO Kenny Jacobs said

The volume of people travelling through both Cork and Dublin airports during January shows the continued strong appetite that exists for overseas travel post-Covid. The addition of an extra Bank Holiday weekend in February, combined with Valentine’s Day and the mid-term school break, means February will be another very busy month at both airports.

The busiest day at Cork Airport during the month was Tuesday, January 3 with 6,900 passengers travelling through, while the busiest day at Dublin Airport was Monday, January 2 with 88,900 passengers. The most popular destination from both Cork and Dublin airports was London Heathrow. In total, 78% of flights from Cork Airport departed on time in January, while 76% were on time leaving Dublin Airport.