Dublin Airport in Ireland has recorded its busiest year ever after it served more than 25 million passengers in 2015, an increase of 15% when compared with 2014.
As a result of the growth, airport operator daa hired 170 new members of staff during 2015 and will hire a further 180 in 2016. The new roles will predominantly be in customer facing positions. The operator has attributed the growth to 22 new routes at the airport, as well as expanded services on 39 existing routes.
Paschal Donohoe, Ireland’s minister for transport, tourism and sport, said, “Connectivity is vital for our island economy and the impact of these additional passengers and new routes at Dublin Airport will be felt right across the country. I welcome the 350 new jobs being announced here today and look forward to continued growth in passenger numbers and employment at Dublin Airport in the years ahead.
“Extra inbound passengers at Dublin Airport helped to bring record numbers of tourists to Ireland last year, and the opportunities offered to business by new routes from Dublin and additional choice on existing services similarly helped to boost trade and foreign direct investment, all of which are assisting our economic recovery.”
Vincent Harrison, managing director, Dublin Airport, said, “Dublin Airport saw growth from most of its airline customers last year including our two largest airlines Ryanair and Aer Lingus, and we also welcomed six new scheduled airlines in 2015 – Ethiopian Airlines, ASL Airlines France, Finnair, Transavia, Vueling and WOW Air.
“There were 22 new routes at Dublin Airport last year and extra capacity on a total of 39 existing services. Ryanair launched three routes at Dublin last year and also added significant additional capacity on 21 of its existing services, while Aer Lingus opened six new routes and had extra capacity on 14 existing services.”