Dublin airport reached a milestone today when it welcomed its 20,000,000 passenger for the first time in one year.
The 20 millionth passenger arrived at the airport at midday on board Aer Lingus flight EI 101 from Dubai. The lucky passenger received a holiday voucher for €3,000, a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of champagne.
The woman was 29-year-old Áine Casey from Galway. She had planned to surprise her family with her visit back from the Middle East, but instead she was greeted with a round of applause, flowers, champagne and a brass band.
"It is absolutely fabulous," said Ms Casey. "I was tired getting off the plane, but the champagne has definitely given me a second wind."
Ms Casey moved to Muscat, Oman, two months ago with her boyfriend, Dubliner Aaron Henderson a marine doctor who studies sharks.
She made the trip home on the seventh anniversary of the death of her late mother Peg, and planned to surprise her father Jim, three sisters and four brothers who will all be in Galway for Christmas.
"I hadn't told anyone I was coming home, so I hope someone is in when I get there," said Ms Casey, a computer technician, who is still looking for work in Mascat.
"I wasn't expected home at all for Christmas so my dad will be thrilled. I still haven't come back down to earth myself."
"This is a historic milestone for us at Dublin Airport," said Vincent Wall, of Dublin Airport Authority.
"To put this in context it means that the equivalent of more than five times the entire population of Ireland travelled through Dublin Airport this year alone.
"We have broken a number of records at the airport this year; in welcoming over 50 new routes and services, three million additional passengers, and 122 airlines servicing over 160 destinations."
During the first six months of the year, almost ten million people travelled through the airport, a 15 per cent increase on the same period the previous year. Over two million passengers travelled through the airport during June.
In 1946 it welcomed 162,000 passengers, in 1956 that grew to 460,000 people, by 1966 it boasted 1.5m visitors, which almost doubled by 1986. However, over the last 10 years the figure has increased from 9m people in 1996 to an estimated 21.4 million expected this year.
Traffic between Ireland and Europe accounted for the strongest growth in the same period, rising by 25 per cent to over 4.4 million passengers.
Passenger volumes on transatlantic flights increased by 7 per cent, with over 586,000 people travelling during the first six months of the year.