In Q3 2024, 12.4 million passengers passed through the five main Irish airports, compared with 11.8 million passengers in the same period in 2023, an increase of over half a million passengers.
Over 31.8 million passengers passed through the main Irish airports in the first nine months of 2024, which was 1.7 million more passengers than in the first nine months of 2023.
Over 80,000 flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in Q3 2024, with Dublin handling 84% of all flights (67,365), while Cork handled 8% of all flights (6,245).
London-Heathrow, Amsterdam-Schiphol, and Malaga were the busiest routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport in Q3 2024. The top route for Cork and Shannon was London-Heathrow, while it was London-Luton for Knock and Kerry.
Air freight handled by Irish airports in Q3 2024 was up 11% when compared with Q3 2023.
Figure 1 shows data on passenger numbers by quarter from Quarter 3 2019 to 2024 while Figure 2 shows data on passenger numbers for main Irish airports from September 2019 to September 2024. Passenger numbers are exceeding 2019 levels as shown in Figures 1 and 2.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (23 December 2024) published Aviation Statistics for Quarter 3 (Q3) 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 July, August, and September (Q3) 2024. Passengers travelling to and from Ireland were up by 5% when compared with Q3 2023.
Over a quarter of a million (274,140) more passengers arrived in the five main airports in Q3 2024 when compared with Q3 2023. In Q3 2024, 6.1 million passengers departed, which was 289,174 more than the same period in 2023. The number of flights to and from Irish airports increased in Q3 2024 by 2,399 flights, when compared with the same period in 2023.
Looking at the data for the first nine months of 2024, 31.8 million passengers passed through Irish airports which was 1.7 million more passengers when compared with the same period in 2023.
The amount of air freight handled by the main airports rose by 11% to 49,297 tonnes in Q3 2024 when compared with the same period in 2023.
Most Popular Routes and Destinations
London-Heathrow, Amsterdam-Schiphol, and Malaga were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport in Q3 2024.The top route for Cork and Shannon was London-Heathrow, while it was London-Luton for Knock, and Kerry.
In Q3 2024, more than eight out of every ten passengers (84%) 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 Q3 2024.”