Cork Airport reveals its 10 most popular travel destinations of summer
13,000 passengers arrived at and departed from Cork Airport on Tuesday, August 8, making it the busiest day of the year so far. File Picture
Cork Airport has revealed the 10 destinations that were the most popular for the 2023 summer period.
Three London airports featured in the rankings, as did popular holiday destination such as Faro and Malaga. However, hotspots such as Lanzarote and Tenerife were absent from the list.
Six of the 10 most popular destinations for passengers in June, July and August were in the UK.
- London Heathrow;
- London Stansted;
- Amsterdam Schiphol;
- Manchester;
- Faro;
- Malaga;
- Edinburgh;
- London Gatwick;
- Birmingham;
- Barcelona Reus
It comes as new figures released by the airport show a total of 308,000 passengers flew into and out of Cork Airport during the busy August holiday period.
Daa, the operator of both Cork Airport and Dublin Airport, said the number of passengers travelling through Cork Airport last month was 12% ahead of last year's total, making it the busiest August for passenger traffic since 2008.
Since the beginning of January, passenger numbers through the airport are up 30% to 1.9 million. Some 890,000 people flew into and out of the airport between the start of June and the end of August.
The airport's busiest day of the year so far saw 13,000 passengers arrive at and depart on Tuesday, August 8.
Just over 3.4 million passengers travelled through Dublin Airport last month — a 12% increase on August 2022. 200,000 passengers also transferred through the airport.
Approximately 22 million passengers travelled through the airport in the eight months to August, with almost half of those journeys (10.1 million) taking place in June, July and August.
Sunday, August 13, was the second busiest ever day at Ireland's largest airport, with 119,000 people passing through its gates.
The 10 most popular destinations for departing passengers at Dublin Airport this summer were similar to those at Cork Airport.
- London Heathrow
- London Gatwick
- Amsterdam Schiphol
- Malaga
- Faro
- London Stansted
- Manchester
- Edinburgh
- Birmingham
- Barcelona
“August was another busy month for travel as families continued to flock overseas in their droves to escape the miserable weather in Ireland," said daa CEO Kenny Jacobs.
"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."
Mr Jacobs said he expects demand at both airports to remain high in 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," he said.
Mr Jacobs added that, as Cork Airport approaches the two million passenger mark this month, traffic will also be boosted by a combination of "those jetting off in search of sunnier climes and fans travelling to France for the Rugby World Cup."
