Tourism takes flight as record 39.2 million passengers used Irish airports last year

Last year saw a record 39.2 million people use Irish airports, with the figure up 20pc on 2022, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

It was also 3pc higher than during 2019 – the year before the pandemic hit.

Dublin Airport handled 85pc of the passengers. Cork handled 7pc and Shannon 5pc. The country’s five main commercial airports recorded a total of 274,000 flights in 2023, with 84pc of those at Dublin.

The most popular routes from Dublin Airport were to Heathrow and Gatwick in London, and Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, according to the CSO’s Damien Lenihan, a statistician in its agriculture, transport and tourism division.

At Cork and Shannon, the most popular route was to Heathrow, while at Knock it was Stansted. Kerry’s most popular route was its service to Dublin. Almost 3.3 million more passengers travelled to Ireland last year than in 2022, with the total number of arriving passengers at 19.6 million.

In the final quarter of 2023, nine million passengers passed through the main Irish airports. That was 781,000 more than in the last quarter of 2022 and 479,000 more than in the last three months of 2019.

Growth at Dublin Airport is hampered by a cap on passenger numbers that limits them to 32 million a year. That cap was imposed as part of a planning condition attached nearly 20 years ago to the construction of T2.

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), which operates airports at Dublin and Cork, has applied to Fingal County Council for permission to raise the cap to 40 million a year.

In February, the council asked for additional information on a number of matters.

Businesses and airlines have supported the push to raise the cap. The DAA has also had to engage with airlines to ensure the cap isn’t breached.

The airport has seen new services from airlines including JetBlue, which has inaugurated routes to the US.

Aer Lingus has also expanded its network this year, launching a new service to Denver, and also relaunching its Minneapolis-St Paul route. US carrier Delta also launched a service to Minneapolis-St Paul, while Hainan Airlines increased the frequency on its Dublin-Beijing service for the summer.

Cork Airport had its busiest year ever in 2023, handling 2.8 million passengers. Knock’s Ireland West Airport also had a record year, with 818,000 passengers, while Shannon handled just under two million, a 29pc increase on 2022.