Dublin ups long-haul seats by almost 25%

Analysis of OAG schedule data for this summer and last shows that among Europe’s busiest 30 airports, seat capacity on long-haul routes (defined as those in excess of 4,000 kilometres) has increased by almost 5% this summer. These top 30 airports account for over 90% of long-haul flights across Europe and almost 92% of long-haul seats.

When we compare seat capacity for the first week of August in 2015 and 2014 it reveals that Dublin has been the fastest-growing among Europe’s 30 busiest airports for long-haul services. We have seen capacity grow by almost a quarter as the number of long-haul destinations served non-stop has increased from 16 to 19 with the addition of new routes to Addis Ababa and Los Angeles (both with Ethiopian Airlines starting this month), and Halifax in Canada (with Europe Airpost). In addition Emirates has doubled frequency on its Dubai route to twice-daily, while there have been frequency and capacity increases on several other routes.

Europe’s busiest airports see 5% growth in long-haul capacity this summer; Heathrow busiest but Amsterdam and Dublin growing fast.