Passenger numbers at Cork Airport rose by 9.6% in May, compared with the same month last year.

Over the first five months of the year, the airport has welcomed 65,000 more passengers than during the same period in 2015, representing growth of 8.4%.

The airport, which is the busiest airport outside of Dublin, projects the steady growth to continue through the summer months into the autumn, through the addition of new summer services to cities such as Duesseldorf, Madrid, Leeds and Southampton.

Passenger numbers are up across all markets, with a 15.5% increase on routes to and from Southern Europe, while London routes are up 10.2%, UK Provincial routes are up 5% and Northern European routes have experienced growth of 2.2%.

Managing Director at Cork Airport Niall MacCarthy said: “Based on anticipated bookings and capacity looking ahead, we are forecasting total passenger numbers of 2.25m people travelling through Cork Airport this year.”

The latest figures come after CityJet announced it is to discontinue its service from Cork to London City Airport with effect from 26 June. The scheduled service started last October.

The airline's chairman Pat Byrne said that CityJet was faced with the reality that demand for the route had not taken hold in terms of sustainable commercial viability.