The number of passengers travelling to and from Dublin Airport increased last month, new figures compiled by the Dublin Airport Authority have shown.

Almost 1.6 million people passed through the facility in March, which was an eight per cent increase on the corresponding period in 2012.

Although UK traffic remained broadly similar to last year, there was a 14 per cent rise in the number of tourists and businesspeople flying to and from continental Europe.

Indeed, 780,000 passengers flew to the mainland, while 120,000 passengers jumped on transatlantic services to North America. This was up by eight per cent on 2012.

There was also a 16 per cent upturn in the number of people travelling on other international routes, such as the Middle East and Africa, during the month.

Of course, the statistics were helped by the Easter holiday, which happened to fall in March this year, whereas the religious break was held in April last year. It will be interesting to see how this month's figures stack up against those from April 2012.