DUBLIN, Ireland – International travel to and from Ireland has increased this year, according to aviation statistics for the first quarter released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Friday.
In the first quarter of 2024, 8.2 million passengers passed through the five main Irish airports, Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock, and Kerry. This was up 8 percent compared to the corresponding period last year, and 39 percent ahead of the same period in 2020.
Over 600,000 more passengers used Irish airports in first quarters of this year, compared to the first quarter of last year.
The number of flights to and from the country’s airports 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 percent of all flights (50,248), while Cork handled 7 percent (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 figures show an increase in international travel during January, February, March (Q1) 2024. Passengers travelling to and from Ireland were up 8 percent compared with Q1 2023 and up by 39 percent compared with the same period in 2020,” Damien Lenihan, CSO Statistician said Friday.
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 percent when compared with March 2023.
Air freight handled by Irish airports in Q1 2024 was up by 15 percent when compared with the same quarter last year.
“In Q1 2024, almost nine out of every ten passengers (88 percent) 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,” Lenihan said.