A surge in mid-term holiday breaks has seen record bookings for some destinations, but overall passenger travel numbers have not yet hit pre-pandemic levels.
Irish travel agents said there was a surge in mid-term sun and ski holiday bookings at the start of the year.
Aer Lingus said similar levels of business have not been experienced since before the pandemic, with some destinations breaking previous passenger records.
Dublin Airport figures estimate 489,000 passengers will pass through the aviation hub from Friday 18 February to Sunday 27 February.
The estimate is down 30% on pre-pandemic levels but up on last year when 30,000 people used the airport during the mid-term break period.
Reid Moody, Chief Strategy and Planning Officer with Aer Lingus, said the airline expects to "experience one of the busiest weeks since March 2020" during the mid-term week.
"Next week we will expect double the numbers of what we have seen in the recent past two or three weeks," he said.
"The weekend that leads into mid-term we will have 50,000 passengers departing and arriving into Dublin - a huge increase in the demand that we've seen since the start of Covid," he added.
Mr Moody said the airline is hitting pre-pandemic levels for this time of year.
"Some of the routes are actually above pre-pandemic levels. We see the demand for sunshine being really high - demand for the Canaries is very strong," he said.
"We are also seeing ski destinations are very strong. Routes such as Lyon and Geneva are at levels above what we would have seen pre-Covid. Those two routes are at record-breaking levels," he added.
Aer Lingus estimates it will be back at 90% of pre-pandemic capacity this year.
"We see the strength of mid-term and we also see that repeated for the long bank holiday weekend for St Patrick's Day and for Easter. I think because we are just coming out of the end of the Omicron phase now people are just starting to get confidence back to book for summer," Mr Moody said.
"We are very positive on the demand for summer. We don’t know what the final outlook will be but we think it will be there or thereabouts versus the pre-pandemic levels. That is reflected in the capacity that we have on sale," he added.
Ryanair said in a statement it is not yet at pre-pandemic levels but there is strong demand for bookings for February and March, including the mid-term break and right through to the Easter.
Martin Skelly of Navan Travel said mid-term is busy for holiday bookings.
"Since we came back after Christmas it is foot to the floor - we are literally out the door," he said.
"What we see is demand for holidays starting at mid-term now. The extra bank holiday over St Patrick’s Day has been a surge for us. Easter is busy and that is spilling over into family holidays for summer. We are busier now than were in 2019," he added.
Mr Skelly added people are travelling to sun and ski destinations for the mid-term break.
"For mid-term they are going skiing and they are going predominantly to the sun and to the theme parks. Disneyland Paris has been very popular," said Mr Skelly.
Clare Dunne of Travel Broker in Contarf in Dublin and the Vice President of the Irish Travel Agents Association said people are planning ahead and booking holidays for summer.
"We have quite a lot of people booking holidays within the next ten days to two or three weeks. Also, those same people are coming back to a lot of travel agents and saying: 'I want a quick break to the sun but then I also want to plan my holiday for later in the year’," said Clare Dunne.
Mary Doyle from Dublin, who will travel with her family for the mid-term break, said her upcoming holiday is "like a dream come true".
"Myself, my husband and my two children are heading to Dubai. It is a big bucket list trip," she said.
"It is almost hard to believe in ways that we are going to be going on this trip. Even going to the airport is exciting. I think we will enjoy every moment of it," she said.
Dublin Airport spokesperson Audrey O’Hagan said passenger numbers will hit almost 500,000 during the mid-term break period.
"We’re expecting approximately 489,000 passengers during the February mid-term break. The Sundays at both ends of the break will be particularly busy with over 63,000 passengers," she said.
However, when compared to 2019 and 2020 passenger numbers are down by 30% and 29% respectively.
