DUBLIN AIRPORT HAS urged passengers to travel by taxi or public transport this weekend as its car parks will be full this Easter bank holiday.

Half a million people are expected to pass through the airport this weekend, about 255,000 departing and around 240,000 arriving.

Demand for parking in all car parks is “extremely high” for the next week, the operators of the airport say, with both long and short term spaces on course to be sold out from Friday through to the middle of next week.  

A spokesperson for daa said: “Our car parks are going to be full this weekend, so if you haven’t booked a space already then we’d advise passengers to plan to travel to the airport by bus, taxi or to get dropped off by a friend or relative.

“The team at Dublin Airport wish all our passengers a safe and enjoyable Easter weekend ahead.”

Friday is expected to be the busiest day, with 104,000 passengers forecast to travel.

The competitions watchdog last week blocked the airport operator, DAA, from purchasing a privately-owned car park near to the site following an investigation into the acquisition.

DAA previously moved to purchase a carpark in Santry, Co Dublin to immediately increase the number of car parking spaces by over 6,000 after a shortage of reasonably priced places last summer.