Dublin Airport has recorded a 17pc increase in the winter aviation season from last year’s slot restricted figure, moving it from decline to one of the fastest growing in Europe.
The new winter schedule from late October 2025 through March 2026, will see services to 150 destinations with 40 airlines.
Last winter (2024-2025), the cap limited capacity to 14.4 million passengers, resulting in a negative 4pc decline compared to the prior year, with airlines such as Ryanair reducing seats by one million. This season, the pause enabled by legal action has positoned Dublin as the fastest-growing major European airport with a 17pc increase in seat capacity year-over-year.
The schedule features one new route, 28 frequency increases on existing routes, and extensions of four summer services into winter. Transatlantic connectivity accounts for 190 weekly flights to 11 US cities, while Middle East links rise with Gulf carriers adding capacity. Ryanair contributes the largest share, operating 96 routes with nine per cent traffic growth. Overall, the airport handles more than 1,000 weekly European flights, including over 800 to London airports.
Passenger numbers reached 26m in the first nine months of 2025, up 3.4 per cent year-on-year, with projections for over 36m annually.
New Route:
- Ryanair Rabat (Morocco), Extension of summer-only service into winter, 2 weekly
- Aer Lingus Cancun (Mexico), New long-haul service starting January 2026, 3 weekly (from Jan)
- Aer Lingus Turin (Italy), 4 weekly
- Aer Lingus Tromsø (Norway), 2 weekly
- SkyUp Chișinău (Moldova)
Frequency Increase:
- Emirates, Dubai (UAE), Capacity addition on existing route 12 weekly from 10 weekly
- Qatar Airways, Doha (Qatar), Capacity addition on existing route, 11 weekly
- From 10 weekly
- Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi (UAE), Capacity addition on existing route, 11 weekly from 7 weekly
- Ryanair, Birmingham (England), Increase on existing route, Up to 3 daily from 2 daily
- Ryanair, Budapest (Hungary), Increase on existing route, 14 weekly from 10 weekly
- Ryanair, Krakow (Poland), Increase on existing route 14 weekly from 10 weekly
- Ryanair, Milan (Italy), Increase on existing route, 21 weekly from 14 weekly
- Ryanair: Valencia (Spain), increase on existing route, 10 weekly from 7 weekly,
- United Airlines, Newark (USA) Aircraft upgrade to larger types, 2 daily
- 2 daily Capacity via 777-200ER/767-400ER
- Hainan Airlines, Beijing (China), Winter reduction from summer but net gain 2 weekly on winter 2024-25.
- 22 additional European routes, Increases including London, Paris, Amsterdam
