The last 12 months have represented a bumper year for passengers travelling between the UK and Ireland with Aer Arann, the airline has announced.

Passenger traffic to Waterford soared by 56 per cent in the first half of 2007 compared with the same period last year, the carrier said.

It added that traffic on services to Galway had seen a rise of more than quarter, while its Cork routes experienced a 32 per cent increase.

"We hope more people will take advantage of a great short-haul break in the second half of 2007 - our flights are intended to help travellers from the UK have safe and comfortable journeys to explore the real Ireland," commented Colin Lewis, head of sales and marketing at Aer Arann.

Earlier this month, the carrier announced that it had seen its busiest week ever for passenger traffic, with almost 30,000 people using its services in the second week of August.

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