Dublin Airport recorded its busiest month on record in July, with almost 3.84 million passengers passing through its terminals, according to airport operator Daa.
A total of 3,839,635 passengers travelled through the airport during the month, representing a 2.3% increase compared with July last year.
The latest figures mark the 16th consecutive month of year-on-year passenger growth at Dublin Airport.
Passenger numbers remained above 100,000 on every day of July, with the busiest day recorded on Sunday, July 12, when 133,472 people travelled through the airport.
Almost 22 million passengers have used Dublin Airport during the first seven months of the year, an increase of 5.2% compared with the same period last year.
The continued growth comes as Dublin Airport faces ongoing debate over its long-standing passenger capacity restriction.
Passenger growth had previously been limited by a planning condition imposing an annual cap of 32 million passengers. The restriction was introduced by Fingal County Council as part of the airport’s planning permission.
Enforcement of the cap has been suspended while airlines challenge the restriction through the European courts.
However, the legal dispute could become less significant following the signing of the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Act 2026 by President Catherine Connolly last month.
The legislation gives the Minister for Transport powers to address the passenger capacity restriction at the airport.
Daa said the record July figures reflected the traditional surge in travel during the summer holiday season, with schools closed and families taking advantage of the break to travel abroad.
The airport also handled large numbers of international visitors arriving in Ireland for summer holidays.
Demand was further boosted during the closing stages of the Fifa World Cup, with passengers travelling from the UK and elsewhere in Europe and making use of Dublin Airport’s US preclearance facilities.
Dublin Airport managing director Gary McLean said passenger volumes had reached exceptionally high levels throughout the month.
“On average, about 123,000 passengers walked through our doors every day of July,” he said.
Mr McLean said the level of traffic had become typical during the peak summer period, while praising the airport’s operational performance.
“This high level of traffic is now the norm during the peak summer period. Despite this, we continued to deliver an excellent operational performance, with 93% of departing passengers passing through security in under 20 minutes,” he said.
