Irish airports surpass pre-pandemic numbers of passengers passing through

Dublin Airport alone accounted for over 86% of all passenger traffic during the first three months of 2023. 

Irish airports saw over 7.6 million passengers pass through during the first three months of the year, overtaking 2019 pre-pandemic levels by over 186,000, new figures from the Central Statistics Office shows.

In total, 3.83 million passengers arrived into the country, while 3.79 million people departed. Dublin Airport alone accounted for more than 86% of this traffic.

Cork Airport had the next highest number of passengers, with nearly half a million.

Passenger numbers up 29% in Q1 2023 compared with Q1 2020https://t.co/et1VQ3B6tP#CSOIreland #Ireland #IrishTransport #TransportIreland #Transport #Aviation #Logistics #Business #AviationStatistics #Passengers #AirTravel pic.twitter.com/r8H2FNp0QJ

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) June 16, 2023

The figures show a dramatic return for passenger numbers which reduced significantly during the pandemic.

Between January and March 2019, the five main Irish airports saw 7.4 million passengers pass through. During the same period in 2020, numbers dropped to 5.9 million. In 2021, it dropped further to 419,000 before rebounding to 4.7 million in 2022.

Compared to last year, there were 15,700 more flights in and out of Irish airports, with 57,000 flights being handled between them. Dublin Airport had 48,515 during those three months.

Dr Nele van der Wielen, statistician with the CSO, said almost nine in every 10 passengers on international flights from Irish airports were travelling to or from Europe.

“The two most popular countries of origin/destination were the United Kingdom and Spain. Outside of Europe, the United States of America was the most popular country of origin/destination.” 

According to the CSO, Dublin Airport’s routes to Heathrow, Gatwick and Amsterdam were its most popular among passengers, while Cork Airport and Shannon Airport’s top route were to Heathrow.

Knock Airport’s most popular route was to Stansted in London while Kerry Airport’s was to Luton in London.

While the number of passengers has increased, air freight handled by the five main airports decreased by 2% to 37,114 tonnes when compared to 2022.