Up to 518 flights took off from Dublin airport each day in January

Some 518 commercial flights took off each day from Dublin airport in January with Shannon and Cork airport closely aligned in terms of traffic.

Figures from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) highlight that commercial traffic for the State's three main airports increased by 5.6 per cent in January 2018 compared to the same month last year.

The biggest percentage gain was in Dublin airport, where 6 per cent more commercial flights took off per day on average. Cork recorded a similar level of growth, with 5.2 per cent more daily movement at the airport.

Shannon, meanwhile, had an average of 42 commercial movements per day, two less than Cork, but its growth rate was significantly lower at 0.8 per cent.

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"These are positive figures for the three State airports for the first month of 2018. The IAA continues to invest in a state-of-the-art air traffic management system and in the development of our staff, to deliver a world class service to our airlines customers," Peter Kearney, IAA chief executive designate said.

The IAA is, amongst other things, responsible for the provision of air traffic management in Irish controlled airpspace and airports and, in January, handled 77,473 movements. That figure includes "overflights", or flights that didn't land in Ireland.