What’s On The Horizon For: Dublin Airport

Dublin Airport (DUB) is seeking to grow its passenger capacity cap beyond the current level of 32 million per year in order to cope with expected demand in the future.

The cap was set a decade ago when the airport’s second terminal was constructed. However, airport operator daa says it plans to submit an application to Fingal County Council to increase the cap to as many as 40 million annual passengers by 2028.

DUB handled more than 15.8 million passengers in the first six months of 2023, an increase of 32% compared to the same period in 2022, and it says it capacity levels will continue to be managed to ensure that current planning restrictions are not breached.

Speaking to Routes, Vincent Harrison, Chief Commercial & Development Officer at daa, adds that maintaining customer satisfaction is also a priority for DUB, an exhibitor at Routes World 2023 in Istanbul and a Routes 360 member. Recent recognition includes four gold awards at the International Customer Experience Awards (iCXA) in November.

“In the shorter term it’s about exemplifying every element of customer service we have at the airport,” Harrison explains in the below video. “A lot of change, a lot of improvement to make a better experience for everybody.”

In October, the airport introduced two new tools that will ensure it gets feedback from passengers on services and to identify issues and improvements that need to be made. They comprise a 'Rate My Airport' feature on the DUB app and assembling a passenger panel to meet with daa’s CEO Kenny Jacobs and DUB Managing Director Gary McLean.

DUB’s winter 2023-24 schedule will see 44 airlines serve 130 destinations worldwide from Ireland’s capital, including to Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York, Orlando, San Francisco and Washington DC.