Cork fastest growing airport last year with passenger numbers growing by 10%, new figures show

Number of passengers using Irish airports during 2024 at 'record level' of 41 million, CSO data shows

Three million people used Cork Airport last year.

A record 41 million people used Irish airports during 2024, with Cork Airport recording the fastest growth out of the five main airports, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.

Throughout 2024, Dublin Airport managed 34.6 million passengers, an increase of 4% year-on-year, while Cork Airport managed just over three million, a 10% increase. Shannon Airport managed just over two million, an increase of 8%.

Knock Airport recorded just a 2% increase to 828,764, while Kerry Airport actually recorded a decrease of 1%, to 412,034.

More than 279,000 flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in 2024, with Dublin handling 84% of all flights (234,570), while Cork handled 7% of all flights (20,864). The number of flights to and from Irish airports rose by 2%.

The most popular routes for people travelling through Dublin Airport were London-Heathrow, Amsterdam-Schiphol, and Manchester.

The top route for Cork and Shannon airports was London-Heathrow, for Knock airport it was London-Stansted, and for Kerry airport it was Dublin.

Damien Lenihan, statistician at the CSO, said the figures showed an increase in international travel during 2024 with the number of passengers using Irish airports at “record level”.

“Just less than 41 million people travelled through the five main airports in the country throughout the year, which was the highest number of passengers since the series began in 2013. Data shows that the number of passengers travelling to and from Ireland were up by 5% compared with 2023,” he said.

“Over 891,000 more passengers travelled to Ireland in 2024 when compared with 2023.” 

Air freight handled by Irish airports in 2024 was up by 12% compared with 2023.