daa, the operator of Dublin and Cork airports, has reported higher passenger numbers, profits and revenues for the six months to the end of June after the rebound in post-pandemic international travel from Ireland.
A total of 7.1 million passengers flew in and out of the country's two busiest airports in the six month period, a 32% increase on the 13 million passengers the same time last year.
Total group turnover at daa jumped by 55% to €458.8m from €295.6m, while group profit after tax soared by 132% to €52.6m from €23.6m in the first half of 2022.
Today's results from the daa show that aeronautical revenue increased by 102% to €130.3m from €64.5m, while non-aeronautical revenue grew by 38% to €206.8m from €149.7m.
The increase in aeronautical revenue was driven by increased passenger numbers through both Dublin and Cork airports, daa said.
The increase in non-aeronautical revenue was driven by strong food and beverage sales, retail sales, improved concessionaire revenues and high demand for car parking and lounge facilities, it added.
Meanwhile, daa's international retail, consultancy and management business - operated through Aer Rianta International (ARI) and daa International (daaI) - also continued to grow in the first half of the year.
It reported combined revenue of €121.7m, an increase of 49% on the €81.4m reported the same time last year.
The rise in revenue in daa's 24 international retail stores in 13 countries was driven by the combination of increased passenger volumes and increased passenger spends since 2022 for ARI.
And daaI's business generated revenues of €15.7m in the six month period, an increase of €9.1m on the same time in 2022.
Kenny Jacobs, the CEO of daa, said that Dublin Airport facilitated more than 15.8 million passengers in the first six months of 2023, an increase of 32% compared to the same time in 2022.
He noted that 46 scheduled passenger airlines, including two new airlines, operated at Dublin Airport during the first half of 2023 flying to over 190 destinations.
Cork Airport saw 1.3 million passengers in the first half of 2023 and is expected to have its busiest year ever for international traffic of 2.7 million passengers, he added.
"There were significant improvements to the overall passenger experience at Dublin Airport in the first half of the year compared to last year and passenger satisfaction ratings are now back to the standards that we routinely delivered pre-Covid," Mr Jacobs said.
He also said that security queue times at Dublin Airport have improved month on month with 92.1% of passengers getting through security in less than 20 minutes between January and June this year.
"Our focus now moves to our Infrastructure Application to meet Ireland's future demand for international travel which requires us to grow the capacity of Dublin Airport to 40 million passengers per annum and allow for the delivery of critical, required infrastructure enhancements such as new piers, taxiways and other airside facilities," he added.
