Dublin Airport - Aer Rianta and Dublin Airport Authority

Aer Rianta and Dublin Airport Authority

In October 2004, Aer Rianta (which means 'Air Ways' or 'Air Tracks' in Irish) was renamed as the Dublin Airport Authority plc, following the State Airports Act 2004. All assets and liabilities previously owned by Aer Rianta were transferred to Dublin Airport Authority. The State Airports Act 2004 also established new airport authorities at Shannon and Cork Airports. The Shannon Airport Authority plc and the Cork Airport Authority have separate boards of directors and have been authorised under the Act to prepare business plans, which may in time lead to their full separation from the Dublin Airport Authority.

As the largest gateway to Ireland, over 21.1 million passengers travelled through the airport in 2006, a 2.7 million (or 15%) increase over 2005. The main contributors to the growth in traffic in 2005 were the airport's routes to continental Europe (particularly Poland and the Baltic region), North America, and the Middle East. Domestic and UK traffic had showed a small decline in 2005, but grew by 25% and 4% respectively in 2006. The decline in 2005 was due to a reduction in connecting traffic between Ireland's regional airports and the UK. This was as a result of a growing direct network of routes between those airports and the UK and continental Europe, dispensing with the need to transit at Dublin. But the organic demand at Dublin resulted in a net increase in those markets in 2006. Dublin Airport also welcomes over one million passengers per annum from across the border in Northern Ireland, whose largest airport is less than a quarter the size of Dublin in terms of passenger numbers.