Cork and Shannon airport passenger numbers return to pre-pandemic levels

For Cork Airport, the number of passengers in June 2023 was 13% higher than June 2022 figures, with no change recorded when compared with the same month in 2019. Picture: Larry Cummins

Ireland’s two major regional airports are now consistently at least equalling or exceeding their passenger numbers before the covid-19 pandemic, official data show.

The growing numbers come as the European heatwave ignites questions about how the climate crisis and growth in aviation can be reconciled worldwide.

Central Statistics Office (CSO) data show that the number of passengers handled by Shannon Airport was 32% higher in June 2023 compared with June 2022, and 10% higher than in June 2019, the summer before the pandemic struck and all but shut down flying in and out of Ireland for leisure and business purposes.

For Cork Airport, figures show that the number of passengers in June 2023 was 13% higher than June 2022 figures, with no change recorded when compared with the same month in 2019, said the CSO.

Calls to curb flying

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As Europe and the rest of the world experiencing summer months go through a heatwave that has reached 50C in some countries and above 40C in many others, environmental and political figures have called for flying for leisure and non-essential purposes to be curbed or at least reduced.

Aviation was responsible for 2% of global energy-related carbon emissions last year, having grown faster in recent decades than rail, road, or shipping, said the International Energy Agency (IEA).

As international travel demand recovered following the covid-19 pandemic, aviation emissions in 2022 reached about 80% of the pre-pandemic level, said the IEA this month.

Improvements in energy efficiency have not been sufficient to counterbalance energy demand growth in recent years, it warned.

As thousands of Irish and other European holidaymakers fly to their preferred summertime destinations in the likes of Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece, the intense ground and sea temperatures in Europe have caught even the most vocal environmental campaigners by surprise.

June saw the warmest global average temperature on record, which continued into July, according to preliminary figures from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Ireland is among countries that saw record-breaking marine heatwaves, as waters off the Atlantic coast in recent weeks were up to 5C warmer than usual, threatening a range of marine species.

“The extreme weather, an increasingly frequent occurrence in our warming climate, is having a major impact on human health, ecosystems, economies, agriculture, energy, and water supplies,” said the WMO’s secretary general Petteri Taalas.

This underlines the increasing urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and as deeply as possible.”

July 6 this year became the busiest ever recorded for air travel, according to data from FlightRadar24, a global air traffic in real-time monitor.

FlightRadar24’s data show that it tracked 134,386 commercial flights on that Thursday.

The tracker, which began monitoring commercial flights 17 years ago, does not include the likes of military, private, and cargo flights, which are estimated to reach over 85,000 on a daily basis typically.

The International Air Transport Association said that its data show global air traffic in May was 96% of pre-pandemic levels.

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