Passenger numbers at Dublin and Cork
airports totalled 30.3 million in the 12 months to December 2022 compared to
8.7 million passengers in the previous 12-month period, which was an 85%
recovery of passenger levels in 2019.

Dublin Airport facilitated more than
28.1 million passengers in 2022, representing a 231% increase on 2021 activity
and an 85% recovery of 2019 levels. Cork Airport, the state’s second biggest
airport welcomed 2.24 million passengers, a 766% increase on 2021, which
represented 86% of 2019 passenger numbers.

daa CEO Kenny Jacobs said: “2022
was a challenging year for everyone in the global aviation sector, including
daa, due to the sudden surge in demand for international travel following the
easing of COVID-19 restrictions. As has been well documented, there were a
number of key shortcomings with respect to the standards and service quality at
Dublin Airport during the first half of 2022 but we recovered well and have
enjoyed nine months of stability since. The hard work and commitment of the daa
team has ensured that since August 2022, around 90% of our passengers have
passed through security screening in under 20 minutes.”

“During 2022, we recruited over
1,000 new employees, managed a remarkably busy summer season, and returned to a
normal level of customer service for the Christmas and New Year period. This
strong passenger performance has continued into 2023. As we look ahead to the
busy summer, our full focus is on ensuring the operation at Dublin Airport is
appropriately resourced, while our recently announced 15-point improvement plan
will bring better standards for all of our customers. At Cork Airport, the
country’s second biggest airport, passenger numbers continue to grow and are
now consistently above 2019 levels on a monthly basis.”

Kenny Jacobs said: “daa is
committed to ensuring sustainability is embedded within all parts of the
organisation. Three driving principles are guiding our actions –
Decarbonisation, Circularity and Healthy Local Environments. The ultimate
target is for our Group’s wholly owned business to achieve net zero carbon
emissions by 2050.”

Kenny Jacobs said: “The Irish
labour market remains incredibly competitive, meaning the attraction and
retention of top talent is a constant challenge. Our people are core to the
delivery of our business strategy and the ability to continue to retain and
hire the best talent is vital to our future success.”

Reflecting on 2022, daa Chairman Basil
Geoghegan said: “A key highlight for the Group in 2022 was the opening of the
new North Runway at Dublin Airport – on time and on budget. The new runway is a
vital economic enabler for Irish tourism, trade and foreign direct investment
and we were enormously proud of everyone who helped deliver this remarkable
feat of aviation engineering, which will serve Ireland for generations to come.
We are committed to being a responsible and good neighbour; one that engages
and listens. For decades we have supported activities that enhance community
spirit, providing resources to improve community wellbeing and we are committed
to doing this with our partners in Fingal for decades to come.”

Speaking about daa’s return to
profitability, daa’s Group Chief Financial Officer Catherine Gubbins added:
“Our return to profitability in 2022 is welcome, following the significant
losses accrued as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the year ended
December 2022, the daa Board has decided not to provide for the payment of a
dividend and the Board also has concerns in relation to the Group’s ability to
pay a dividend over the next number of years. This is in the context of the
significant impact of COVID-19 on the Group, the poor commercial outcome
arising from the recent Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) determination
and the scale of capital expenditure that will be required to address the
critical capacity challenges that Dublin Airport faces.”

Kenny Jacobs said: “daa’s
performance in 2022 was helped by the strong performance of our global retail
and international businesses. ARI won a major contract to operate duty-free and
duty-paid retail concessions at eight airports in Portugal, while daa
International was awarded a five-year contract to support, manage and advise on
operations, aviation business development, non-aeronautical revenue and
facilities management at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia. The daaI team also won a 12-year operations and maintenance contract to
become the operator of the new international airport being constructed at the
Red Sea Resort in Saudi Arabia.”