Press Statement

Preasráiteas

29 April 2021

Go to release: Air and Sea Travel Statistics March 2021

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (29 April 2021) released Air and Sea Travel Statistics March 2021.

Commenting on the release, Gregg Patrick, Statistician, said: “The Air and Sea Travel Statistics for March 2021 show a rise in overseas travel compared to the preceding month. In March 2021, 61,400 overseas passengers arrived in Ireland, compared to 54,800 in February 2021, an increase of 12%. In March 2021, 66,500 overseas passengers departed from Ireland, compared to 53,200 in February 2021, an increase of 25%.

The March 2021 statistics show that continental routes contributed most to the passenger traffic. Some 34,800 passengers arrived on continental routes and 36,600 passengers departed on continental routes. By way of contrast, 17,500 passengers arrived on cross-channel routes and 20,400 passengers departed on cross-channel routes. Just 2,800 passengers arrived on transatlantic routes and 2,700 passengers departed on these routes.

Apart from Great Britain (which effectively accounted for all cross-channel routes), the most important routing countries for overseas travel in March 2021 were Spain (5,900 arrivals, 5,800 departures), the Netherlands (5,200 arrivals, 5,800 departures) and France (5,100 arrivals, 5,300 departures).

When we look at the year-to-date picture (January-March 2021), the statistics show that 224,200 overseas passengers arrived in Ireland and 238,400 overseas passengers departed from Ireland. This compares to approximately 3 million arrivals and 3 million departures in the same period in 2020. This illustrates the ongoing dramatic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international travel to and from Ireland.”

-- ENDS --