Passenger numbers at Ireland‘s five main airports – Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock, and Kerry – rose by 5% in the third quarter of 2024, compared to the same period a year earlier.
According to the data, a total of 12.4 million passengers passed through these airports in the quarter, up from 11.8 million a year earlier. In addition, more than 80,000 flights were handled by the five airports, with Dublin accounting for the lion’s share (84%). Cork was the next-biggest, accounting for 8% of flights.
Busiest routes
London-Heathrow, Amsterdam-Schiphol, and Malaga were the busiest routes for passengers flying through Dublin airport in the third quarter, while the top route for Cork and Shannon was London-Heathrow. For Knock and Kerry airports, the busiest route was London-Luton.
Elsewhere, air freight recorded a double-digit increase in the quarter, rising by 11% to 49,297 tonnes compared to Q3 2023.
Looking at the period from January to September, meanwhile, some 31.8 million passengers passed through the five airports, which was 1.7 million more than in the first nine months of 2023.
International flights
Commenting on the figures, Damien Lenihan, statistician at the Central Statistics Office (CSO), noted that international travel increased during the summer months of July, August, and September 2024.
“In Q3 2024, more than eight out of every ten passengers (84%) on international flights in the five main airports were travelling to or from Europe,” he said.
“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 Q3 2024.”
Compared to the previous quarter, Dublin reported a 1% decline in passenger numbers in Q3, while Cork saw passenger numbers up 2%. Shannon was unchanged, while at Knock, passenger numbers were down 6% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, and Kerry was up 8%. Read more here.
