Dublin Airport

By April 1918, when the Flying Corps was renamed the Royal Air Force, Collinstown Aerodrome was more than 20% complete. Construction was completed in 1919 when the Irish War of Independence broke out.

As Collinstown Camp the site was used for internment of Irish republicans. At the end of 1922 the land and buildings at Collinstown were transferred to the Irish Free State.

Work on the new airport began in 1937. By the end of 1939, a grass airfield surface, internal roads, car parks and electrical power and lighting were set up. The inaugural flight from Dublin took place on 19 January 1940 to Liverpool.

Due to World War II, which was known as The Emergency in Ireland, services were severely restricted at Dublin Airport until late 1945. The only international scheduled routes operated during this time were by Aer Lingus to Liverpool.

Throughout the 1950s Dublin Airport expanded with virtually uninterrupted traffic growth. In 1958, a new transatlantic service was started by Aer Lingus via Shannon Airport.

The growth which was anticipated at Dublin's airport (and provided for through heavy investment by the airport and Aer Lingus) during the 1970s did not materialise immediately. During the 1980s, major competition, especially on the Dublin–London routes, resulted in passenger numbers swelling to 5.1 million in 1989.

With the success of Ireland's 'Celtic Tiger' economy, Dublin Airport saw growth in the 1990s and 2000s. In August 2019, Dublin Airport was chosen for the Special Achievement in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) award for its use of mapping software from ESRI Ireland.