The Central Statistics Office has released the quarter 3 passenger numbers for Ireland which shows that almost 6.9 million more passengers used Irish airports in Q3 2022 compared with Q3 2021. During the quarter, 10.4 million passengers passed through the five main Irish airports, almost three times that of 2021 but still 10% lower when compared with the same period in 2019. Almost 24.3 million passengers passed through the main Irish airports in the first nine months of 2022 which was more than five times higher than those using the airports in the first nine months of 2021.
The number of flights to and from Irish airports in Q3 2022 increased by more than 36,000 when compared with the same period in 2021 but were still 13% lower than the same period in 2019. Slightly more than 68,700 flights were handled by Ireland’s five main airports in Q3 2022, with Dublin handling 84% of all flights (57,611), while Cork handled 7% of all flights (5,131).
London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick and Amsterdam-Schiphol were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport in Q3 2022. The top route for Cork airport was London-Heathrow, the top route for Knock and Shannon airports was London-Stansted, and the top route for Kerry airport was London-Luton. Air freight handled by Irish airports in Q3 2022 was up by 3% compared with Q3 2021.
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 Q3 2022. However, data shows that passengers travelling to and from Ireland were still down by 10% compared with Q3 2019.
Almost 3.5 million more passengers travelled to Ireland in Q3 2022 when compared with Q3 2021, but this is 0.6 million fewer passengers when compared with the same period in 2019. In Q3 2022, 5.2 million passengers departed from Ireland, which was 3.5 million more than the same period in 2021, but still fewer by 0.6 million when compared with Q3 2019.
In the first nine months of 2022, 24.3 million passengers passed through Irish airports, which was 19.7 million more passengers when compared with the same period in 2021 but 5.2 million fewer than the same period in 2019.”
| Table 3 Passenger1 numbers classified by arrivals and departures handled by main airports, Quarter 3 2019 -2022 | ||||
| Airport | Q3 2019 | Q3 2020 | Q3 20212 | Q3 2022 |
| Arrivals | ||||
| Cork | 422,808 | 44,866 | 67,123 | 388,755 |
| Dublin | 4,963,844 | 639,308 | 1,612,370 | 4,474,748 |
| Kerry | 57,889 | 9,696 | 22,048 | 57,179 |
| Knock | 130,520 | 13,290 | 33,229 | 125,698 |
| Shannon | 267,060 | 22,679 | 61,838 | 232,534 |
| Total arrivals | 5,842,121 | 729,839 | 1,796,608 | 5,278,914 |
| Departures | ||||
| Cork | 409,390 | 45,421 | 66,686 | 378,518 |
| Dublin | 4,888,525 | 631,103 | 1,590,464 | 4,365,646 |
| Kerry | 58,129 | 10,272 | 23,378 | 60,890 |
| Knock | 129,468 | 14,223 | 35,916 | 126,897 |
| Shannon | 269,637 | 22,826 | 63,456 | 231,818 |
| Total departures | 5,755,149 | 723,845 | 1,779,900 | 5,163,769 |
| All | ||||
| Cork | 832,198 | 90,287 | 133,809 | 767,273 |
| Dublin | 9,852,369 | 1,270,411 | 3,202,834 | 8,840,394 |
| Kerry | 116,018 | 19,968 | 45,426 | 118,069 |
| Knock | 259,988 | 27,513 | 69,145 | 252,595 |
| Shannon | 536,697 | 45,505 | 125,294 | 464,352 |
| Total passengers | 11,597,270 | 1,453,684 | 3,576,508 | 10,442,683 |
| 1 Passenger numbers refer to commercial passengers only. Transit passengers are included and are counted twice (i.e. both as arriving and departing passengers). | ||||
| 2 Minor revisions to data |
