In addition to being the busiest airport in Ireland, Dublin Airport accommodates the needs of an average sixty thousand passengers each day, which rises to an average of eighty thousand passengers during peak tourist season; it is counted among the ten busiest airports in Europe.

Dublin Airport first officially opened in 1940, under the name Collinstown Airport. At first it saw only one flight daily, but today Dublin Airport sees more than six hundred “aircraft movements” daily. Although the airport opened in 1940, the planning and development for the airport actually initiated as early as the 30s, beginning as grass runways and a terminal building designed by Desmond Fitzgerald.

The ambition of the designer was that the graceful lines of the building would echo those of a magnificent ocean liner, which won it numerous architectural awards. The original building, now referred to as the Old Central Terminal Building, was designed with the intention to cater to a mere hundred thousand passengers each year; now, Dublin Airport sees twice that in a week! Today the original building remains in partial use to accommodate passenger operations, and although it is no longer the hub of the airport activity, its place in the founding of the airport is acknowledged, and many design features have been retained to pay tribute to its early days.

Although Dublin airport saw little traffic during the war years, business inclined steadily over the ensuing decades, and today passengers will find the airport is a well-run facility with every convenience travellers could hope for. It helps that the airport is located quite close to the Dublin city centre, and that the airport prides itself on offering accessibility to all passengers. In addition to providing such amenities as currency exchange, they urge all passengers with reduced mobility considerations to contact the airport in advance to secure such facilities as boarding assistance and transport advice.