More than 8.5 million more passengers used Irish airports in the second quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, but traffic was still down 13 per cent compared with the same period of pre-Covid 2019.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has published aviation statistics for the second quarter. Passenger numbers are included for the five main airports: Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock, and Kerry.
The data shows about 9.1 million passengers passed through the airports over the period, which was more than 15 times higher than the same period in 2021.
The additional passengers over the period bring to more than 13.8 million the number that passed through the main Irish airports in the first half of 2022, which was more than 12.8 million more passengers than those using the airports in the first half of 2021.
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The number of flights to and from Irish airports in the second quarter increased by more than 54,500 compared with the same period in 2021 but were still 11 per cent lower than the same period in 2019.
Slightly more than 66,000 flights were handled by Ireland’s five main airports in the quarter, with Dublin handling 84 per cent of all flights (55,479), while Cork handled 7 per cent (4,822).
London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick, and Amsterdam-Schiphol were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin Airport. The top route for Cork and Shannon was London-Heathrow, while the biggest route for Knock and Kerry was London-Luton.
Air freight handled by Irish airports over the period was down by 4 per cent compared with a year earlier.
CSO statistician Dr Nele van der Wielen said: “The figures show an increase in international travel during April, May, and June. However, data shows that passengers travelling to and from Ireland are still down by 13 per cent compared with 2019.
“More than 4.2 million more passengers travelled to Ireland in the quarter when compared with 2021, but this is 600,000 fewer passengers when compared with the same period in 2019.
“In the second quarter, 4.6 million passengers departed from Ireland, which was 4.3 million more than the same period in 2021, but still fewer by 700,000 people when compared with 2019.
“In the first half of 2022, more than 13.8 million passengers passed through Irish airports which was 12.8 million more passengers when compared with the same period in 2021, but 4.1 million fewer than the same period in 2019.”
