It was a busy start to the year at Ireland's two busiest airports with just over 2.3 million passengers going through the terminals at Cork Airport and Dublin Airport during January, according to daa, which operates the two airports.

183,000 passed through Cork Airport while just over two million passengers passed through Dublin Airport's terminals in January.

According to Kenny Jacobs, CEO of daa: "The cold and dreary weather in Ireland during January saw thousands opting to escape to warmer surroundings. For holidaymakers, flights to the Canaries proved popular from both Cork and Dublin airports during the month, while routes to central and eastern Europe were also very busy as thousands headed to ski slopes. The start to 2024 also saw a strong flow of business passengers at both airports. January presented some challenging weather conditions, with both freezing temperatures and disruptive storms. I want to thank the snow and ice teams at both airports who continue to expertly deal with the vagaries of the winter weather, ensuring passengers can get on their way.

"The year got off to a great start at Cork Airport with passenger traffic up 14% versus January 2023, and 2024 is shaping up to be another very busy year. Nine out of 10 flights in the 'first wave' of departures (05:45 - 07:30) departed on time from Cork Airport during January which is a testament to the hard work of the operations team”.

"The number of passengers through Dublin Airport in January was on a par with 2023 levels. Numbers through Dublin Airport could obviously be higher, but daa continues to manage passenger levels to ensure the airport does not exceed the 32 million cap on the number of passengers who can travel through the airport's two terminals” added Jacobs.