So far this year passenger numbers are up by 15pc compared with the same period last year. A total of 1.1 million passengers flew to and from Cork Airport across the summer months of June, July and August.
Heathrow and Stansted in London were the two busiest destinations from Cork, followed by Faro in Portugal, Malaga in the south of Spain, and Manchester.
Kenny Jacobs, chief executive of the airport operator DAA, said: “Cork Airport is on the cusp of one of the most exciting periods in its history from a capital development and infrastructure perspective as works on the new mezzanine floor, which will be home to the airport’s new security screening area, are due to commence imminently.
“A total of €200m will be invested by DAA over the coming years, future-proofing Cork Airport’s infrastructure for further growth.”
Dublin Airport has also seen records broken in August as it welcomed close to 3.8 million passengers, 4.1pc higher than in the same month last year.
Last month Dublin Airport handled more than 110,000 passengers daily, with numbers topping 120,000 passengers on 21 of those days, and reaching 130,427 on the busiest day – which was Sunday, August 10. This was the first day ever to exceed 130,000 passengers in the airport’s 85-year history, the DAA said.
The month brought the total number of passengers travelling through Dublin Airport across the three peak summer months of June, July and August to 11.1 million, 5.6pc higher than in the same period last year.
Inward tourism numbers for Dublin were also lifted by a series of big concerts that took place in August, including the two Oasis gigs, Robbie Williams and Electric Picnic, which all attracted visitors from abroad.
Commenting on Dublin’s performance, Mr Jacobs said: “100,000+ passenger days are set to remain the norm throughout what is forecast to be a record-breaking September.
“There will be no slowdown, either, in the improvements for passengers, with the rollout of new C3 scanners continuing, which will ultimately allow for the removal of the rules which currently require liquids in hand luggage to be 100ml or under, and removed from bags when going through security screening.”
source