Dublin Airport car parks sold out ahead of bank holiday weekend

Airport advises people travelling to airport in coming days to use public transport or get dropped off

Over 120,000 passengers are expected on Sunday at Dublin Airport, making it the busiest day of the weekend. Photograph: Alan Betson
Over 120,000 passengers are expected on Sunday at Dublin Airport, making it the busiest day of the weekend. Photograph: Alan Betson

Dublin Airport car parks are sold out for the August bank holiday weekend with around 472,000 passengers expected to fly in and out of the city.

Airport operators DAA said those without an existing booking for parking should use public transport or get dropped off at the airport, arriving two hours in advance of a short-haul flight and three hours before a long-haul flight.

Over 120,000 passengers are expected on Sunday, making it the busiest day of the weekend. The DAA said about 234,000 people will depart the airport and roughly 238,000 arrivals are expected across the weekend.

In a statement on the Dublin Airport website, the director of communications at DAA Sarah Ryan said: “This weekend will be one of our busiest of the year so far.”

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Explaining the rise in passenger numbers, Ms Ryan said they will “be swelled this weekend by the start of the football season in Scotland and England” as well as explaining that flights to France are also set to be busy as fans head over to the Olympics in Paris.

“All of those travelling this weekend can look forward to a smooth journey through Dublin Airport,” Ms Ryan said, highlighting “additional seating, faster free wifi speeds and additional phone charging sockets we’ve rolled out in recent months”.

Concerns around a shortage of parking have been raised over the last two summers, since the QuickPark site, described by DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs as “the best car park in the whole campus”, was put up for sale by property developer Gerry Gannon.

The DAA had a bid accepted for the site before it was blocked by the State’s competition watchdog, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CPCC).