Back to Top
75 years of the CSO
Statistics Database
cso.ie as Gaeilge

 Skip navigation

Show Menu  
PDF - Summary (KB)
PDF - Full (KB)
Extra information
Methodology Previous Releases
International comparison:
Eurostat
See also:
YouTube Video
For more information on this release:
E-mail: transport@cso.ie Noreen Dorgan +353 21 453 5260 Brendan Curtin +353 21 453 5120
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-7581
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Aviation Statistics

2016

Total number of passengers handled by Irish airports 2014-2016
 201420152016% change 2015-2016
All passengers26,486,13129,761,419132,832,906+10.3
1 Revised

Increase of 10.3% in number of passengers handled by Irish airports in 2016

Figure 1: All passenger numbers handled by all Irish airports
go to full release

In 2016, almost 33 million passengers (32.8m) passed through Irish airports, an increase of 10.3% over the previous year. See Table 1.

Passenger numbers increased in all airports with the exception of Waterford. Dublin airport accounted for 84.6% of all air passengers in 2016.

Of the 3.1 million additional passengers travelling through Irish airports in 2016, 2.8 million (92%) passed through Dublin airport.

 

The results also show that:

  • More than 247,000 flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in 2016. Dublin accounted for almost 83% of all flights (204,563) while Cork handled 8% of all flights (19,908). See Tables 6, 7 and 8.
  • London- Heathrow, London-Gatwick and Manchester were the most popular routes for passengers in Dublin airport in 2016. For Cork, the top three routes were London-Heathrow, London-Stansted and Amsterdam. In Shannon, the main routes were London-Heathrow, London-Stansted and New York-John F Kennedy while London-Stansted, London-Luton and Liverpool-John Lennon were the most popular routes to and from Knock. See Tables 9A to 9E.
  • In 2016, almost nine out of every ten passengers (87.8%) on international flights in the five main 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 in 2016. See Table 10.
  • Ireland's main airports handled a total of 146,829 tonnes of freight in 2016, the vast majority (94.0%) of which was international freight. See Table 11.

Note: With effect from June 2017, Aviation statistics will be published quarterly.

Passenger number distribution by airport, 2009
Dublin80.2
Cork9.8
Shannon5.4
Knock2.8
Kerry1.2
Other0.6
Passenger number distribution by airport, 2016
Dublin84.6
Cork6.8
Shannon5.1
Knock2.2
Kerry1
Other0.3
Table 1: Total passenger numbers handled by all airports, 2012 - 2016
Airport20122013201420152016% change 2015-2016
Dublin19,090,78120,148,57421,694,89324,962,51827,778,888+11.3
Cork2,333,6432,252,6362,138,0572,065,6782,226,233+7.8
Shannon1,286,13913082421,555,2251,642,88811,674,567+1.9
Knock677,368665,558703,670684,671735,869+7.5
Kerry286,442306,042294,955303,039325,670+7.5
Donegal29,22633,76835,41536,55244,156+20.8
Connemara19,49020,35419,23619,75321,345+8.1
Waterford77,87528,16833,18934,24913,5112-60.6
Inishmore12,12612,39311,49112,07112,667+4.9
       
Total23,813,0902477573526,486,13129,761,419132,832,906+10.3
1 Revised
2 No commercial flights since June 2016 from Waterford airport  
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 1 (XLS 12KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 2: Passenger numbers classified by arrivals and departures handled by main airports, 2016
      Number
Passenger typeCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
Arrivals1,109,06713,862,177161,782365,585831,48116,330,092
       
Departures1,117,16613,916,711163,888370,284843,08616,411,135
       
All passengers2,226,23327,778,888325,670735,8691,674,56732,741,227
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 2 (XLS 11KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 3: Passenger numbers by month handled by main airports, 2016
      Number
MonthCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
January125,2441,694,40317,17534,40985,4721,956,703
February132,3531,715,29718,19340,26984,0991,990,211
March161,7372,125,27923,40348,356113,3582,472,133
April171,1642,213,42427,69959,383123,4092,595,079
May207,5852,481,48230,17064,167160,5682,943,972
June246,8502,720,65333,20376,852197,6803,275,238
July257,6242,935,08635,65192,971202,3353,523,667
August251,3962,867,47038,94092,807197,9033,448,516
September197,6702,559,04630,36568,092162,4893,017,662
October188,9922,485,90329,83266,756142,1822,913,665
November146,0381,995,12420,38845,440103,7762,310,766
December139,5801,985,72120,65146,367101,2962,293,615
       
Total2,226,23327,778,888325,670735,8691,674,56732,741,227
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 3 (XLS 12KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 4: Passenger numbers classified by national and international traffic handled by main airports, 2016
      Number
TrafficCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
National traffic1,09284,01748,712-4,691138,512
       
International traffic2,225,14127,694,871276,958735,8691,669,87632,602,715
       
Total traffic2,226,23327,778,888325,670735,8691,674,56732,741,227
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 4 (XLS 11KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 5: Passenger numbers classified by arrivals and departures by month handled by main airports, 2016
      Number
MonthCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
All passengers      
January125,2441,694,40317,17534,40985,4721,956,703
February132,3531,715,29718,19340,26984,0991,990,211
March161,7372,125,27923,40348,356113,3582,472,133
April171,1642,213,42427,69959,383123,4092,595,079
May207,5852,481,48230,17064,167160,5682,943,972
June246,8502,720,65333,20376,852197,6803,275,238
July257,6242,935,08635,65192,971202,3353,523,667
August251,3962,867,47038,94092,807197,9033,448,516
September197,6702,559,04630,36568,092162,4893,017,662
October188,9922,485,90329,83266,756142,1822,913,665
November146,0381,995,12420,38845,440103,7762,310,766
December139,5801,985,72120,65146,367101,2962,293,615
      
Total passengers2,226,23327,778,888325,670735,8691,674,56732,741,227
      
Arrivals      
January59,804845,2157,69915,44341,552969,713
February66,082859,4539,05319,64442,420996,652
March80,5151,055,72211,96724,82556,1981,229,227
April85,5361,116,30813,61728,62662,2261,306,313
May102,0391,232,62115,19531,80679,3261,460,987
June118,4461,311,70816,09036,36995,9851,578,598
July131,6361,474,76318,23448,328101,4521,774,413
August128,3001,458,20119,60847,51098,6351,752,254
September97,4101,284,82514,79433,20880,5141,510,751
October94,9411,231,82714,59932,62168,5891,442,577
November73,4371,011,3749,95522,54052,3271,169,633
December70,921980,16010,97124,66552,2571,138,974
      
Total arrivals1,109,06713,862,177161,782365,585831,48116,330,092
      
Departures      
January65,440849,1889,47618,96643,920986,990
February66,271855,8449,14020,62541,679993,559
March81,2221,069,55711,43623,53157,1601,242,906
April85,6281,097,11614,08230,75761,1831,288,766
May105,5461,248,86114,97532,36181,2421,482,985
June128,4041,408,94517,11340,483101,6951,696,640
July125,9881,460,32317,41744,643100,8831,749,254
August123,0961,409,26919,33245,29799,2681,696,262
September100,2601,274,22115,57134,88481,9751,506,911
October94,0511,254,07615,23334,13573,5931,471,088
November72,601983,75010,43322,90051,4491,141,133
December68,6591,005,5619,68021,70249,0391,154,641
      
Total departures1,117,16613,916,711163,888370,284843,08616,411,135
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 5 (XLS 14KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 6: Number of flights classified by national and international traffic handled by main airports, 2016
      Number
TrafficCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
National traffic143,4671,452-5925,525
       
International traffic19,894201,0961,7516,05913,012241,812
       
Total traffic19,908204,5633,2036,05913,604247,337
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 6 (XLS 11KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 7: Number of flights classified by arrivals and departures handled by main airports, 2016
      Number
FlightsCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
Arrivals9,956102,3941,6023,0376,833123,822
       
Departures9,952102,1691,6013,0226,771123,515
       
All flights19,908204,5633,2036,05913,604247,337
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 7 (XLS 11KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 8: Number of flights classified by scheduled and non-scheduled travel handled by main airports, 2016
      Number
FlightsCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
Scheduled flights19,588201,9313,1805,98212,891243,572
       
Non-scheduled flights3202,63223777133,765
       
All flights19,908204,5633,2036,05913,604247,337
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 8 (XLS 11KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 9A: Top 10 arrivals and departures for Dublin airport by number of passengers, 2016
   Number
 ArrivalsDeparturesTotal
London - Heathrow854,842896,8471,751,689
London - Gatwick664,204645,3201,309,524
Manchester487,979493,649981,628
Amsterdam - Schiphol 469,960467,302937,262
Birmingham463,683463,901927,584
London - Stansted463,575451,464915,039
Paris - Charles De Gaulle345,174345,731690,905
New York - John F Kennedy317,794320,860638,654
Edinburgh300,455296,887597,342
Barcelona279,735278,953558,688
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 9A (XLS 11KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 9B: Top 10 arrivals and departures for Cork airport by number of passengers, 2016
   Number
 ArrivalsDeparturesTotal
London - Heathrow191,474198,794390,268
London - Stansted172,211167,101339,312
Amsterdam - Schiphol 88,18289,984178,166
London - Gatwick61,32659,365120,691
Malaga58,28858,576116,864
Faro57,30057,139114,439
Lanzarote48,98249,03398,015
Manchester45,14147,02992,170
Paris - Charles De Gaulle45,38745,45590,842
Liverpool - John Lennon40,22940,10780,336
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 9B (XLS 11KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 9C: Top 10 arrivals and departures for Shannon airport by number of passengers, 2016
   Number
 ArrivalsDeparturesTotal
London - Heathrow126,773141,022267,795
London - Stansted123,274115,804239,078
New York - John F Kennedy67,02569,591136,616
London - Gatwick55,94156,366112,307
Boston - Logan49,48749,87699,363
Newark47,16449,00096,164
Manchester42,23942,52384,762
Faro29,87429,02258,896
Malaga28,07327,93056,003
Philadelphia19,41619,99739,413
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 9C (XLS 11KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 9D: Top 10 arrivals and departures for Knock airport by number of passengers, 2016
   Number
 ArrivalsDeparturesTotal
London - Stansted78,46982,335160,804
London - Luton65,78965,423131,212
Liverpool - John Lennon40,59542,15982,754
London - Gatwick37,84137,83775,678
East Midlands33,43134,13467,565
Faro16,61817,79934,417
Manchester15,04815,25730,305
Bristol14,25514,58028,835
Birmingham11,65911,69923,358
Lanzarote9,97810,32520,303
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 9D (XLS 11KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 9E: Top 5 arrivals and departures for Kerry airport by number of passengers, 2016
   Number
 ArrivalsDeparturesTotal
London - Luton56,05255,849111,901
London - Stansted36,89237,37174,263
Frankfurt - Hahn28,66328,45357,116
Dublin23,31125,40148,712
Alicante11,43511,60423,039
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 9E (XLS 11KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 10: Number of passengers classified by country of flight stage origin and destination handled by main airports, 2016
ContinentCountryArrivalsDeparturesTotal
EuropeAustria65,44166,076131,517
 Belgium252,754253,152505,906
 Czech Republic96,03997,089193,128
 Denmark141,496141,177282,673
 France972,013969,4131,941,426
 Germany993,354997,2911,990,645
 Hungary116,802114,340231,142
 Italy654,208646,5751,300,783
 Latvia58,38760,033118,420
 Lithuania87,61489,961177,575
 Netherlands615,578613,7431,229,321
 Norway72,35974,014146,373
 Poland526,705529,3591,056,064
 Portugal483,422485,196968,618
 Spain1,970,8941,970,8393,941,733
 Sweden54,18555,216109,401
 Switzerland185,489191,456376,945
 Turkey96,65297,947194,599
 UK - England5,651,0205,703,02211,354,042
 UK - Northern Ireland4577401,197
 UK - Scotland623,694623,3051,246,999
 UK - Wales60,53761,974122,511
 UK - Other30,24030,43360,673
 Total UK6,365,9486,419,47412,785,422
 Other 479,704475,883955,587
 Total Europe14,289,04414,348,23428,637,278
   
North AmericaCanada167,615172,399340,014
USA1,399,4011,419,9712,819,372
Other4,0663,8567,922
Total North America1,571,0821,596,2263,167,308
   
AfricaTotal Africa47,06343,80090,863
   
AsiaUnited Arab Emirates350,538349,032699,570
Other391164555
Total Asia350,929349,196700,125
   
Other1Total other3,4903,6517,141
   
All continents2 16,261,60816,341,10732,602,715
1 Due to residual coding errors some passengers cannot be assigned a country of flight origin/destination.
2 This figure refers to international passengers only and excludes domestic passenger numbers.
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 10 (XLS 13KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 11: Air freight classified by national and international traffic handled by main airports, 2016
TrafficCorkDublinKnockShannonTotal
National freight traffic04,41604,3378,753
      
International freight traffic15129,791168,254138,076
      
All freight15134,2071612,591146,829
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 11 (XLS 8KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 12: Air freight classified by arrivals and departures handled by main airports, 2016
TrafficCorkDublinKnockShannonTotal
Arrivals - freight1470,172166,38576,588
      
Departures - freight164,03506,20670,242
      
All freight15134,2071612,591146,829
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2016 Table 12 (XLS 8KB)
upArrowHide Table

Background Notes

Introduction

Statistics on Aviation are collected under Statutory Instrument (S.I.) No. 91 of 2014 - Statistics (carriage of passengers, freight and mail by air) Order 2013.

The data in this release gives details on the number of passengers, the number of flights classified by arrivals and departures, and by reference to national and international traffic; and covers both scheduled and non-scheduled flights. It also provides information on air freight and mail (in tonnes).  The release also highlights the top routes for each of the five main airports: Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerry.

Data sources

Aviation statistics are compiled from data supplied by all Irish airports. The following Irish airports provide data to the Central Statistics Office: Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Kerry, Knock, Waterford, Connemara, Donegal and Inishmore. Galway and Sligo airports ceased operations in 2011. Data for the five main airports is supplied on a monthly basis. Data for regional airports is supplied annually to the Central Statistics Office.

Definitions

Main airport: A main airport is defined as an airport through which in excess of 150,000 passengers fly per annum. The five main airports in Ireland are Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerry.

Regional airport: A regional airport is defined as an airport through which less than 150,000 passengers fly per annum. The four regional airports in Ireland are Donegal, Waterford, Connemara and Inishmore.

Scheduled flight: The term 'scheduled' in this release, refers to a commercial air service operated according to a published timetable, or with such a regular frequency that it constitutes an easily recognisable systematic series of flights.

Non-scheduled flight: The term 'non-scheduled' in this release, refers to a commercial air service other than scheduled air service e.g. chartered or private aircraft flights.

Direct transit passengers: These are passengers who, following a short stop, continue their journey on the same aircraft with the same flight number as the flight on which they arrived. These passengers are en route to another destination and generally do not disembark from their aircraft.

Transfer passengers: Transfer passengers or ‘connecting passengers’ are defined as passengers who make a stop at an airport without any purpose other than to board another aircraft to reach another destination. Unlike transit passengers, transfer passengers disembark the aircraft and pass through the airport en route to their connecting flight.

upArrowHide Background Notes

Scan the QR code below to view this release online or go to
http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/as/aviationstatistics2016/

Contact:

Central Statistics Office
Skehard Road, Cork T12 X00E, Ireland

Tel:
(+353) 21 453 5000
E-Mail:
information@cso.ie

Links:

Careers

You can count on a rewarding career with the CSO.

Learn about our variety of roles and the benefits of working with the CSO.

Follow: