Dublin Airport is continuing to dramatically grow its transfer traffic, and is solidifying its position as a significant transatlantic transfer hub. Transfer traffic at Dublin increased by 37 per cent in 2014 with a record 750,000 passengers using Dublin Airport as a hub.

“We had a strong business focus to develop and grow our transfer market last year” said Dublin Airport Aviation Business Development Manager, Stephen O’Reilly. “Working with our airline partners we specifically targeted transfers as a growth segment for Dublin and our strategy is paying dividends with transfer passenger numbers reaching an all-time high.”

This is the second year of strong growth in transfer traffic and the medium term goal is to grow this sector to two million passengers per annum.

Speaking exclusively to Routesonline on the opening day of this year’s Routes Americas forum in Denver, USA, O’Reilly said that Dublin Airport’s geographic position between Europe and North America, its strong continental European and UK route network and the ability to clear all US Customs and Immigration checks prior to departure on US-bound flights have combined to create a unique selling point for Dublin as a transfer hub.

“Dublin Airport is the only major airport in Europe to offer US pre-clearance facilities which allows passengers to save time on arrival into the US by completing all the necessary immigration and customs checks prior to departure.”

Dublin Airport is the sixth largest airport in Europe for services to North America, with 318 flights per week (159 weekly departures) between Dublin and 15 separate destinations in the United States and Canada this summer. The only European airports with better transatlantic connectivity than Dublin will be the major hubs of Heathrow, Paris CDG, Frankfurt, Amsterdam Schiphol, and Madrid.

Dublin Airport is winning transfer traffic from Britain and continental Europe, which is then feeding onto its expanding transatlantic network. To make the transfer experience even easier, Dublin Airport offers passengers free unlimited wifi and a free DUB HUB mobile service powered by Google, to guide passengers seamlessly to their boarding gate.

Overall transatlantic passenger numbers increased by 14 per cent in 2014 to a record 2.1 million last year. The strong increase in passenger numbers was boosted by new direct Aer Lingus services to San Francisco and Toronto, a new year-round service to Toronto with Air Canada rouge and a new WestJet service to St John’s Newfoundland.

In fact, between 2010 and 2014 Dublin Airport has seen a 40 per cent increase in transatlantic passengers to the United States and Canada.

“Dublin Airport’s transatlantic business set an all-time record last year, as this was the first time that more than two million people took transatlantic flights to and from Dublin Airport in a single year,” said O’Reilly.

The airport will welcome another four new transatlantic services this year – Aer Lingus to Washington DC, Ethiopian Airlines to Los Angeles, United Airlines to Chicago, and Europe Airpost to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Aer Lingus is also adding a third daily Dublin-New York JFK service during the summer peak.

“Dublin Airport has established itself as a player in the transatlantic transfer market over the past couple of years and we see significant potential for future expansion in this area,” added O’Reilly.

Dublin will have 15 North American destinations this summer, six of which will be served by more than one airline. The airport is particularly enjoying a boom in Canadian traffic with passenger numbers on flights to Canada up by more than 120 per cent in 2014.

“The Canadian market has been hugely positive for us last year, with new route launches and additional capacity,” said O’Reilly, who noted that the fundamentals of the Canadian-Irish market are solid, as there are strong business and historic cultural links between two countries.

“More than 60 Irish companies are based in Canada, about 80 Canadian companies are located in Ireland and Ireland is the fifth largest recipient of Canadian investment overseas,” he said.

Dublin was the first year-round long haul destination launched by Air Canada rouge, and was announced to the market before the airline began operations in July 2013.

Air Canada had operated a season Dublin-Toronto service from 2002 until last year, when Air Canada rouge took over the route and transformed it into a year-round service. Aer Lingus launched a new Dublin-Toronto service in April 2014, and as well as operating the route daily in the summer, they also operated four flights per week in the winter.

On top of the new Aer Lingus route and the Air Canada rouge expansion, Dublin Airport also welcomed Canadian low cost carrier WestJet’s first ever transatlantic service last year. WestJet saw strong demand for its Dublin-St John’s Newfoundland service and has extended the season for 2015.

Further strong growth is predicted this year with the recent announcement that French airline Europe Airpost is to operate a new direct scheduled summer service between Dublin and Halifax, Nova Scotia. This summer, 60 flights will operate from Dublin Airport to/from four Canadian cities.