IRISH airports are bracing themselves for the Christmas rush as hundreds of thousands of people return home over the next week.
As more than 900,000 prepare to fly to Ireland, airports in Dublin, Cork, Belfast and Shannon will be bustling with festive cheer as families and friends welcome their loved ones home.
Belfast International Airport is gearing up for the tens of thousands of passengers who will come through the terminal this Christmas.
The airport is expecting around 150,000 passengers, most of whom will be making their way home to spend Christmas with their families.
Co. Clare’s Shannon Airport, the Republic's second largest airport, is set to see passenger figures top 51,000.
Meanwhile Cork Airport expects 50,000 inbound passengers to make their way through the Rebel County’s arrival gates over the next week — up from the usual 7,000 per day.
Dublin Airport will reveal its seasonal figures later this week, but bosses are expecting record numbers of travellers in the run-up to Christmas.
Last year 660,000 passengers arrived via the capital’s terminals over the holiday season — up four per cent on the previous year.
Managing Director Vincent Harrison said: “This year has been Dublin Airport’s busiest since traffic peaked in 2008. The added transfer traffic is up 38 per cent and is set to reach record levels by year end with over 650,000 passengers to date opting to connect at Dublin onwards to transatlantic, European and British destinations.”
December 2013 marked the first time the city’s airport welcomed 20million passengers since the recession hit.
And so far this year there has been an increase of 1.3million passengers on the same period last year.
The Christmas rush will be ongoing until January 5, with Britain’s major airports also expecting to see increased passenger numbers.
Dublin is Gatwick Airport’s third most popular destination in December, with Belfast coming in at number 10 as the Irish flock home for the festive season.
Over 50,000 passengers are expected to travel from Gatwick Airport to Ireland this Christmas.
