In 2006, 21 million passengers passed through Ireland’s busiest airport, located approximately 10km north of Dublin city centre, near the M50 ring road and the M1 motorway. Served by over 90 airlines and providing scheduled and chartered flights to more than 150 long and short-haul destinations (including Europe, the Middle East and the US), Dublin airport saw a total of 197,000 aircraft movements last year. London ranked top on the 2006 destination charts, followed by Paris, Manchester and New York. Alongside Ryanair (Europe’s first budget airline) and Aer Arann (domestic carrier), the national airline Aer Lingus is one of the main operators at Dublin airport. Founded by the Irish government in 1936, the now publicly listed company remains Ireland’s flagship airline, set to serve almost a hundred international destinations by the end of 2007.