ITTN’s Shane Cullen, along with members of the trade and representatives from the Star Alliance airlines, attended the Star Alliance Christmas Lunch.
Martina Coogan welcomed guests to the 10th Annual Star Alliance Christmas Lunch, which was held in the Shelbourne Hotel on Thursday, 11th December and thanked partners of the event, Dublin Airport and Shannon Airport.
Declan Power – Head of Aviation Development | Shannon Airport
Declan Power (Shannon Airport) thanked Star Alliance and, in particular, United Airlines, for their services that operate through Shannon Airport.
United Airlines operates two direct services from Shannon Airport, serving Newark, New York, with a year-round service and a seasonal service during the summer to Chicago. Additionally, travellers can connect onward via United Airlines’ extensive network.
Declan also highlighted that Discover Airlines (part of Lufthansa) is returning in 2026 with a Shannon – Frankfurt service with twice-weekly flights. The route will connect with over 59 destinations across France, Germany, Italy, Austria, the USA and Asia, including Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Mumbai. This sustained growth in its route portfolio and passenger numbers, together with continued investment in infrastructure and its multi-award-winning customer experience, ensures that Shannon Airport remains a vital gateway, with easy international connectivity for both business and leisure passengers travelling to and from Ireland
Declan shared, speaking about Shannon Airport, “We’ve had a very successful year this year, with 2.3 million. The last time we reached that was maybe 20 years ago. Next year is going to be a more successful year, and with your support, we can make it even better.”
Eoin McGloughlin – Vice President of Aviation Business Development | Dublin Airport
Eoin McGloughlin shared, “It’s great to be able to connect with our Star Alliance Partners, who do such great business with us throughout the year. And for those of you who have travelled just to be here, to say, big Irish Céad Míle Fáilte agus Nollaig Shona Daoibh”.
In 2025, Dublin Airport has grown by 5% and seen in excess of 36 million passengers.
And with a strong Christmas, it might be the first time that the daa’s Dublin and Cork airports reach 40 million.
In terms of Star Alliance partners, Eoin shared that Dublin Airport had “nine airlines, 16 routes and a 12% growth in capacity this year to 2.5 million seats in Dublin Airport.”
He highlighted that most airlines in the Star Alliance group have grown by either high single-digit or double-digit growth, and Dublin Airport wants to continue to work with Star Alliance to facilitate that growth again in 2026 and beyond. Looking forward, 2026 will start strong with Eoin detailing a winter season delivering between 15-18% growth.
Supporting airline partners, Dublin Airport has delivered 95% of passengers through security in 20 minutes or less. Both the Liffey and Martello lounges have been upgraded with the T1 and 51st & Green being updated and expanded. The improvements are expected to be completed by summer 2026. In addition, the Platinum VIP Terminal has doubled in size. Finally, over a dozen new food & beverage outlets have been added throughout the year.
This Christmas, 1.8 million passengers will pass through Dublin Airport, a 20% increase compared with the same period last year, showing significant growth in the winter season. In fact, in 2025, Dublin Airport has had 220 days with over 100,000 passengers. In context, the airport only celebrated its first 100,000 passengers in a day about a decade ago.
Finally, Star Alliance is the largest airline alliance at Dublin Airport in 2025.
Star Alliance Partners
Julie Murphy, welcomed and thanked attendees for their partnerships and support throughout 2025 and Martina Coogan provided a tour of the Star Alliance updates from those represented at the lunch.
Bláithín O’Donnell (Air Canada)
2025 saw a year-round service from Dublin to Toronto and summer season services from Dublin to Montreal and Vancouver. 2026 will have a few small changes with the Dublin – Vancouver route returning at the start of May and the Montreal returning on May 16th. The Montreal service will operate for the first two weeks with the latest aircraft, the Airbus 321 XLR, which will be based in Montreal in 2026.
And this aircraft will allow aircraft to service even more airports throughout Europe.
Enhancements to the traveller experience, including free Wi-Fi, free snacks and beer and wine on domestic and short-haul flights in the Americas.
Alan Sparling & Julie Murphy (ANA – All Nippon Airways)
ANA continues to see significant passenger growth in Ireland. They have significantly increased their footprint in Europe with 51 weekly flights to Japan. This will increase to 55 weekly flights in 2026, allowing for even better connections in Dublin.
ANA achieved the 5-Star rating from Skytrax for 12 consecutive years for consistently delivering high customer experience of its in-flight and airport services. Only 10 airlines in the world have earned the highest 5-Star rating, with ANA as the sole Japanese carrier to maintain the distinction for more than 10 consecutive years. In addition, the airline has been named Air Transport World Airline of the Year.
Miray Maksudoglu (Turkish Airlines)
With a fleet of 511 aircraft, Turkish Airlines flies to 355 destinations in over 131 countries making it the airline that flies to more countries than any other. Named Europe’s best airline by Startrak for the tenth consecutive year, the airline continues to connect the world with unmatched service.
From Dublin, Turkish Airlines operates three daily flights to Istanbul and a new November frequency, operating more connections to Asia and the Far East while offering the perfect city break in Istanbul.
Riccardo Dinis (TAP Air Portugal)
TAP Air Portugal has recently launched Tap Forbiz, a solution for businesses which allows greater flexibility and in-flight bookings, while reducing travel costs. Travel managers and employees can gain direct benefits with this.
The airline’s new route between Lisbon and Curitiba in Brazil, will start on 2 July 2026 with 3 weekly flights (Tues/Thurs/Sat), meaning it will serve 14 Brazilian destinations, the leading European carrier serving Brazil.
Martina Coogan (United Airlines)
United Airlines announced the expansion of its non-stop services from Dublin Airport to the US. United has the largest capacity ever on its New York service and its Dublin – Chicago service. Martina added that United offers more flights than any other U.S carrier from Dublin.
In addition, United has a year-round service from Shannon Airport to New York and United’s Dublin – Chicago seasonal service will also return in 2026.
Tom Randles – ITAA
Tom Randles, President of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA), thanked Star Alliance partners, Dublin Airport and Shannon Airport, as well as attendees, for their continued support and wished prosperity for the coming year.
Star Alliance
Star Alliance comprises 25 member airlines which come together at over 50 global hubs to offer smooth connections across a world-leading global network. The group of airlines have projects and activities, including airport co-location, digital infrastructure, frequent flyer integration, joint business lounge projects, and other services to improve the travel experience. Member airlines include many of the world’s top aviation companies as well as smaller, more regional carriers. Together, they offer easy connections to almost any destination in the world.
The airlines include: Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Egyptair, Ethiopian, Eva Air, Lot Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, South African Airways, Swiss, TAP Air Portugal, Thai, Turkish Airlines and United.
