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Over 23 million more passengers used Irish airports in 2022 compared with 2021 but still 5.5 million fewer passengers than pre-pandemic 2019 figures.
Passenger numbers in Q4 2022 almost doubled when compared with Q4 2021 but were 4% lower than Q4 2019 figures.
The number of flights to and from Irish airports was two and half times higher than 2021 figures but was 14% lower compared with 2019 numbers.
Over 236,000 flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in 2022, with Dublin handling 84% of all flights (199,464), while Cork handled 7% of all flights (16,592).
London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick and Amsterdam-Schiphol were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport in 2022. The top route for Cork and Shannon airports was London-Heathrow, for Knock airport it was London-Stansted, and for Kerry airport it was London-Luton.
Air freight handled by Irish airports in 2022 was down 1% compared with 2021.
Figure 1 gives the passenger numbers from 2018 to 2022. Figures 2 and 3 show the percentage distribution of passengers handled in 2022 and 2018. Detailed data on arrivals and departures of passengers, freight and flights can be seen in Tables 2 to 10.
| X-axis label | Year |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 29.7 |
| 2016 | 32.7 |
| 2017 | 34.4 |
| 2018 | 36.5 |
| 2019 | 38.1 |
| 2020 | 8.3 |
| 2021 | 9.1 |
| 2022 | 32.5 |
| Table 1 Number of passengers handled by main Irish airports, Quarter 4 and Year 2022 | |||
| Quarter 4 | Year | ||
| 2019 | 8,540,952 | 38,053,418 | |
| 20201 | 759,119 | 8,293,679 | |
| 2021 | 4,541,050 | 9,132,872 | |
| 2022 | 8,238,811 | 32,518,370 | |
| % change | |||
| Q4 2019 to Q4 2022 | -4% | ||
| Year 2019 to Year 2022 | -15% | ||
| 1 Minor revisions to 2020 data | |||
| Passenger number distribution by airport, 2022 | |
| Dublin | 85 |
| Shannon | 7 |
| Cork | 4 |
| Other | 4 |
| Passenger number distribution by airport, 2018 | |
| Dublin | 86 |
| Cork | 7 |
| Shannon | 5 |
| Other | 4 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (25 April 2023) published Aviation Statistics for Quarter 4 (Q4) and Year 2022. Passenger numbers were received for the five main airports: Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock, and Kerry.
Commenting on the release, Dr Nele van der Wielen, Statistician in the Agriculture, Transport & Tourism Division, said: “The figures show an increase in international travel during 2022. However, data shows that passengers travelling to and from Ireland were still down by 15% compared with 2019.
Almost 11.8 million more passengers travelled to Ireland in 2022 when compared with 2021, but this was 2.7 million fewer passengers when compared with the same period in 2019.
In 2022, 16.2 million passengers departed from Ireland, which was 11.6 million more than the same period in 2021, but still fewer by 2.8 million when compared with 2019.
In Q4 2022, 8.2 million passengers passed through Irish airports, which was 3.7 million more passengers when compared with the same period in 2021 but 0.3 million fewer than the same period in 2019.
Airports and Routes
More than 236,000 flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in 2022, with Dublin handling 84% of all flights (199,464), while Cork accounted for 7% of all flights (16,592). The number of flights in 2022 was 2 and half times those of 2021 but still 14% lower than 2019.
London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick and Amsterdam-Schiphol were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport in 2022. The top route for Cork and Shannon airports was London-Heathrow, for Knock airport it was London-Stansted, and for Kerry airport it was London-Luton.”