An estimated 850,000 people are expected to travel through Dublin Airport this Christmas amid ongoing concern over the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.
According to Dublin Airport, the number of people expected to travel this festive season is down significantly compared to the almost 1.5 million people who passed through the airport during the same period in 2019.
However, passenger numbers are up compared to last Christmas when just 235,000 travelled through the airport.
The busiest day forecast for this month is December 19th, closely followed by December 23rd.
Dublin Airport has said the recent travel restrictions imposed by the Government has made it hard to forecast passenger figures, with some travellers opting not to travel last minute.
An estimated 850,000 people are due to travel through Dublin Airport this Christmas. ✈️🎅🎄
The busiest day during the Christmas season is expected to be Sunday, December 19, followed closely by Thursday, December 23.
More info here: https://t.co/C1HSb04NEB pic.twitter.com/pzpmIPEiA0Advertisement— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) December 10, 2021
The increased number of passengers travelling in and out of Dublin Airport comes as new travel advice has been issued to British travellers coming into Ireland.
Under the new advice, anyone who is arriving from Britain into Ireland will be asked to take daily antigen tests for five consecutive days after arriving in the country.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the advice, which will not be placed on a legal footing, had been taken due to the high volume of travel between the two countries.
Speaking on Thursday evening, he described the new guidance as a precautionary measure and urged people to “exercise a high degree of caution when you’re travelling”.
Citing advice from the World Health Organisation, Mr Martin said: “We’re not going to stop Omicron, but we can try to delay it as best we can.”
-Additional reporting by PA
