In the first quarter of 2024, 8.2 million passengers passed through the five main Irish airports, up 8% compared with 2023 and up 39% when compared with the same period in 2020.
Over 600,000 more passengers used Irish airports in Quarter 1 (Q1) 2024 compared with Q1 2023.
The number of flights to and from Irish airports in Q1 2024 rose by more than 2,400 compared with the same period in 2023.
Over 59,000 flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in Q1 2024, with Dublin handling 85% of all flights (50,248), while Cork handled 7% of all flights (4,296).
London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick, and Amsterdam-Schiphol were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport in Q1 2024. The top route for Cork and Shannon airports was London-Heathrow, for Knock airport it was London-Stansted, while the top route for Kerry was Dublin.
The number of passengers arriving to or departing from Ireland in March 2024 was over two and half times that of March 2020 and up by 11% when compared with March 2023.
Air freight handled by Irish airports in Q1 2024 was up by 15% when compared with Q1 2023.
Figure 1 shows data on passenger numbers by quarter from Quarter 1 2019 to 2024 while Figure 2 shows data on passenger numbers for main Irish airports from March 2019 to March 2024. Passenger numbers are exceeding 2019 levels as shown in Figure 2.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (14 June 2024) published Aviation Statistics for Quarter 1 (Q1) 2024. Passenger numbers are received for the five main airports: Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock, and Kerry.
Commenting on the release, Damien Lenihan, Statistician, said: “The figures show an increase in international travel during January, February, March (Q1) 2024. Passengers travelling to and from Ireland were up 8% compared with Q1 2023 and up by 39% compared with the same period in 2020.
Almost 300,000 more passengers travelled to Ireland in Q1 2024 when compared with Q1 2023, and this was 1.1 million more passengers when compared with the same period in 2020.
In Q1 2024, 4.1 million passengers departed from Ireland, which was more than 300,000 more than the same period in 2023, and almost 1.2 million more passengers when compared with Q1 2020.
The amount of air freight handled by the main airports rose by 15% to 42,769 tonnes in the first three months of 2024 when compared with the same period in 2023.
Most Popular Routes and Destinations
London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick, and Amsterdam-Schiphol were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport in Q1 2024. The top route for Cork and Shannon airports was London-Heathrow, for Knock airport it was London-Stansted, while the top route for Kerry was Dublin.
In Q1 2024, almost nine out of every ten passengers (88%) 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 Q1 2024."