DUBLIN AIRPORT HAD its busiest ever month in July since it opened its runways in 1940.

Every day in July saw more than 100,000 passengers, totalling more than 3.8 million travelling through the airport. It was an increase of 2.3% on the year previous.

The airport said it was the sixteenth consecutive month of passenger growth. Just under 22 million passengers have travelled through the airport in the first seven months of the year.

The busiest day of the month was Sunday 12 July, which saw 133,472 passengers. 

The airport said the busyness of July “reflected the peak summer holiday season” with schools closed for the summer and many taking their family holidays. It also said it welcomed “significant numbers” of inbound tourists choosing to holiday in Ireland.

The closing stages of the Fifa World Cup also drove demand for passengers across the UK and Europe, it added, saying the airport’s US pre-clearance facilities and its US route network were availed of by those travelling to North America. 

July saw the kick-off of Ireland’s six-month tenure as the president of the European Council. Dublin Airport said it played “an important role” as the first point of welcome for many international delegations arriving from across Europe.

The airport’s managing director Gary McLean said an average of 123,000 people walked through the airport’s doors every day of July – the equivalent of one-and-a-half times the capacity of Croke Park on All-Ireland final day.

“This high level of traffic is now the norm during the peak summer period,” McLean said. 

“With demand showing no sign of abating in August, there’s another busy month ahead for all who fly the flag for Ireland at the airport.”