Airport passenger numbers climb to 2008 heights

The number of passengers travelling through Irish airports has returned to 2008 levels following a 12.5 per cent increase last year.

While a positive economic indicator, numbers did not increase in Cork or Knock, Co Mayo which celebrated its 30th anniversary last week.

Almost 30 million people came and went through airports in 2015, just short of the 31.3 million figure achieved in 2008, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reported in data released on Monday.

Unsurprisingly, Dublin Airport accounted for 83.8 per cent of traffic, while departing passengers slightly exceeded arrivals.

In the main five airports - Dublin, Shannon, Kerry, Cork and Knock - there were almost 232,000 flights during the year with the three London airports accounting for the most popular destinations for those travelling from Dublin.

New York was a popular destination from Shannon Airport as was Amsterdam for those travelling from Cork and Liverpool from Knock.

The vast majority of travellers (87.7 per cent) travelled within Europe although the US featured in the top three most popular destinations alongside the UK and Spain.

The CSO figures show a yearly increase in airport passenger traffic from 2013.