Cork Airport records dip in passenger numbers

Cork Airport handled 959,378 passengers, both arrivals and departures, during the second quarter of this year, down 3.4% from the same period last year.

Cork Airport was the only major airport in Ireland to see a decline in passenger numbers during the second quarter, compared to the same period last year, with a decline of 3.4%.

According to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), between April and June, 12.3 million passengers passed through one of the five main Irish airports, compared with around 12 million last year. The vast majority of those passengers, over 10.2 million, came through Dublin Airport, an increase of nearly 2% year-on-year.

Cork Airport handled 959,378 passengers, both arrivals and departures, during the second quarter of this year, down 3.4% from the same period last year. Despite the decline in passenger numbers, Cork Airport remains the second busiest airport in the country.

Shannon Airport’s passenger numbers increased 15% to just under 730,000 while Knock Airport increased its numbers by 6% to just over 287,600. Kerry Airport increased its numbers by 11.3% to 141,345.

Of the roughly 82,000 flights handled through the five airports during the quarter, Dublin Airport handled 82% of them — or 68,104 flights — while Cork Airport handled 8% equating to 6,548, down from 6,757 last year.

London-Heathrow, Amsterdam-Schiphol, and Manchester were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin Airport during the quarter. The top route for Cork and Shannon was London-Heathrow, while it was London-Luton for Knock, and Dublin for Kerry.

Between January and June, 85% of passengers travelling on international flights in the five main airports were travelling to or from Europe. The two most popular countries of origin or destination were the United Kingdom and Spain.

Outside of Europe, the United States of America was the most popular country of origin or destination.

In addition to passenger numbers being up, the tonnage of air freight handled by Irish airports also grew by 11% during the second quarter.

During the first six months of the year, 21.4 million passengers passed through Irish airports which was 1.2 million more people than in the same period last year. During the first half of the year, Cork Airport handled just over 1.6 million passengers — down 1.46% year-on-year.

The number of flights to and from Irish airports in the first half of 2026 increased by 8,122 to 147,260 when compared with the same period in 2025. Cork Airport handled 11,279 flights during the first six months of the year, down from 11,485 last year.

The aviation statistics come as the country experiences a rebound in tourists visiting the country this year.

CSO data shows that in the first seven months of the year, there have been an estimated 3.9 million foreign visitors to Ireland — an increase of 13% compared to the same period last year, and slightly ahead of that period in 2024, up 0.4%.