Some 10.8 million passengers passed through Dublin airport in the first six months of this year, an increase of 11 per cent on the same period last year, according to new figures.
The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) said almost 1.1 million additional passengers were facilitated during the first six months of the year, or an average of 6,000 extra passengers every day.
Passenger traffic to and from continental Europe rose by 22 per cent with over 5.4 million passengers travelling during the first six months of the year, the DAA said.
Traffic to and from Britain remained static, with over 4.2 million passengers travelling this route sector.
The number of passengers travelling on domestic routes to and from Dublin Airport rose by 8 per cent to over 412,000. The numbers travelling to and from North America were up by 4 per cent to 608,000 passengers in the January to June period.
For the Middle East (Dubai and Bahrain), northern Africa and South Africa, traffic was up by 22 per cent or more than 105,000 passengers.
The DAA said the number of passengers transiting through the airport to an onward destination fell by 19 per cent compared with the same period last year, reflecting the airport's strong route network of direct flights.
Director of Dublin Airport Robert Hilliard said: "It is interesting to note that passenger volumes for the first six months of the year have already exceeded the total number of passengers travelling in 1997 when 10.3 million passengers were catered for at the airport.
This effectively means that passenger numbers at the Airport have more than doubled in a 10-year period."
He said catering for the "phenomenal" growth in passenger traffic with no extra terminal capacity continued to be a real challenge for the airport.
"While the opening of check-in area 14 has helped to ease congestion on the Departures Floor, the Airport's longer-term capacity needs will only be achieved through the delivery of the second terminal and we eagerly await a decision from An Bord Pleanála in that regard."