Almost 3.5 million passengers travelled through Dublin Airport in May, an increase of 2.7% on the same month last year.
Through the first five months of 2026, a total of 14.3 million passengers have passed through Dublin Airport – up 7% on the same period last year.
Numbers were swelled in May by the start of the summer holiday season, the busy May bank holiday weekend and the start of the mass exodus of football fans from around the UK and Europe for the football World Cup in North America. Travel between Dublin and North America in May was 13% higher year-on-year, with strong numbers of visitors also arriving into Ireland from the U.S. and Canada.
Data indicated that the most popular destinations for departing passengers in the month were: 1) London Heathrow; 2) Amsterdam; 3) Manchester; 4) Malaga; and 5) London Gatwick.
Gary McLean, Managing Director of Dublin Airport commented, “The start of the busy summer season seems to be getting earlier every year, and this was our busiest May on record, with an additional 93,000 passengers using our airport this May compared to the same month last year. Demand to fly in and out of Dublin Airport is very high and we’re expecting passenger numbers to come in around 2% higher this summer than last year’s record levels.”
Looking ahead, McLean continued, “June is set to be another busy month as we welcome many thousands of tourists to the island of Ireland from all around the world, while the summer holiday season ramps up for residents of Ireland seeking their annual fix of warm and sunny weather overseas. While the Irish team isn’t at the men’s football World Cup, we’re already seeing lots of Scottish, English, French, Dutch, Belgian and German jerseys in the terminals as they avail of Dublin Airport’s extensive route network and US pre-clearance facility, to reach North America to cheer their countries on at the tournament. In total, we expect up to 10,000 fans to travel through Dublin Airport in June on their way to the World Cup.”
