Irish love of foreign travel surges again post Covid-pandemic

Almost 5 million passengers passed through airports in Ireland in the first three months of the year as international travel ramps up post-pandemic, latest figures show. 

In the first quarter of 2022, 4.7 million passengers passed through the five main Irish airports, more than 11 times that of 2021 but a fall of 21% when compared with the same period in 2020.

Almost 4.3 million more passengers used Irish airports in the first three months of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021.

The number of flights to and from Irish airports in the first quarter of the year increased by more than 32,000 compared to the same period in 2021.

Slightly more than 41,000 flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in the first quarter of 2022, with Dublin handling 85% of all flights (35,120), while Cork handled 7% of all flights (2,683).

London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick and Amsterdam-Schiphol were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport in the first quarter of 2022.

The top route for Cork, Shannon, and Knock airports was London-Stansted, while the top route for Kerry was London-Luton.

The number of passengers arriving to or departing from Ireland in March rose by 76% compared with March 2020 but is still 25% lower than the same month in 2019.

Air freight handled by Irish airports in Q1 2022 was slightly down by 2% compared to Q1 2021.

Commenting on the information, Dr Nele van der Wielen, statistician, said: "The figures show an increase in international travel during Q1 2022. However, data shows that passengers travelling to and from Ireland are still down by 21% compared with Q1 2020 and down by 37% compared with same period in 2019".