Management at Cork Airport yesterday announced that a record 3.2 million passengers passed through its new terminal last year - a 6 per cent jump in traffic on the previous year.
Record passenger numbers were also handled by Donegal airport last year.
In Cork, 11 airlines accommodated 2.8 million passengers on 42 scheduled routes over the course of the year, with a further 400,000 passengers travelling on charter flights.
Cork surpassed its previous record of three million passengers annually, set in 2006, by November 2007.
The annual figures are the first from the Cork Airport Authority (CAA) since a new terminal opened at the facility last summer.
Two airlines - Air Southwest and SkyEurope - were secured last year to operate additional flights to Newquay and Bratislava (Vienna) respectively.
Significantly, Ryanair also launched new services to Glasgow Prestwick and Nottingham's East Midlands Airports towards the end of the year.
A spokesman for the airport said 2007 was the 15th consecutive year of passenger growth to and from Cork Airport.
"3.2 million passengers flew into and out of Cork Airport in 2007 . . . The figure represents a 6 per cent increase on the previous record of three million passengers who used Cork Airport in 2006.
"European scheduled routes, principally those operated by Aer Lingus, were the strongest performers in terms of growth in 2007.
"Intense competition between Ryanair and Aer Arann on flights to and from the capital led to an increase in passengers using the Cork-Dublin services of 20 per cent."
Over 1.4 million passengers availed of flights to and from the United Kingdom in 2007, with connectivity to the three London airports - Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted - emphasised by the 892,000 passengers who flew to and from Cork Airport.