CSO - Central Statistics Office Ireland

18/04/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 18/04/2024 10:05

Aviation Statistics Quarter 4 and Year 2023

Record number of 39.2 million passengers used Irish airports in 2023

Online ISSN: 2009-7581
CSO statistical publication, 18 April 2024, 11am

Key Findings

  • Just under 39.2 million people used Irish airports in 2023, the highest number of passengers recorded since the series began in 2013.

  • Almost 6.7 million or 20% more passengers used Irish airports in 2023 compared with 2022, which was 1.1 million (3%) more passengers than pre-pandemic 2019 figures.

  • Passenger numbers in Q4 2023 were 9% higher when compared with Q4 2022 and 6% higher than Q4 2019 figures.

  • The number of flights to and from Irish airports rose by 16% when compared with 2022 figures.

  • Almost 274,000 flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in 2023, with Dublin handling 84% of all flights (229,756), while Cork handled 7% of all flights (19,777).

  • London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick, and Amsterdam-Schiphol were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport in 2023. The top route for Cork and Shannon airports was London-Heathrow, for Knock airport it was London-Stansted, and for Kerry airport it was Dublin.

  • Air freight handled by Irish airports in 2023 was up by 6% compared with 2022.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (18 April 2024) published Aviation Statistics for Quarter 4 (Q4) and Year 2023. Passenger numbers were received for the five main airports: Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock, and Kerry.

Commenting on the release, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Agriculture, Transport & Tourism Division, said: "The figures show a significant increase in international travel during 2023. In fact, 2023 was a record year in terms of the number of passengers using Irish airports since the series began 10 years ago, with 39.2 million people travelling through at least one of the five main airports in the country.

Data shows that passengers travelling to and from Ireland were up by one-fifth (20%) compared with 2022.

Almost 3.3 million more passengers travelled to Ireland in 2023 when compared with 2022, and this was almost 600,000 more when compared with the same period in 2019.

In 2023, 19.6 million passengers departed from Ireland, which was 3.4 million more than the same period in 2022, and half a million more passengers when compared with 2019.

In October, November, and December (Q4) 2023, 9.0 million passengers passed through Irish airports, which was 781,000 more passengers when compared with the same period in 2022 and 479,000 more than the same period in 2019.

Airports and Routes

Almost 274,000 flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in 2023, with Dublin handling 84% of all flights (229,756), while Cork accounted for 7% of all flights (19,777). The number of flights in 2023 increased by 16% when compared with 2022.

London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick, and Amsterdam-Schiphol were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport in 2023 The top route for Cork and Shannon airports was London-Heathrow, for Knock airport it was London-Stansted, and for Kerry airport it was Dublin."

Tables and Graphs

Figure 1 gives the passenger numbers from 2016 to 2023. Figures 2 and 3 show the percentage distribution of passengers handled in 2023 and 2019. Table 1 gives data on passenger numbers for Quarter 4 and Year, 2019 to 2023. Detailed data on arrivals and departures of passengers, freight and flights can be seen in Tables 2 to 10.

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Created with Highcharts 9.3.3Chart context menuSource: CSO Ireland20162017201820192020202120222023Highcharts.comFigure 1 Passenger numbers handled by main Irish airports, 2016 to 2023
Year
01020304050
Million
X-axis label Year
2016 32.7
2017 34.4
2018 36.5
2019 38.1
2020 8.3
2021 9.1
2022 32.5
2023 39.2
Table 1 Number of passengers handled by main Irish airports, Quarter 4 and Year 2019-2023
Table 1 Number of passengers handled by main Irish airports, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Quarter 4 Year
2019 8,540,952 38,053,418
2020 759,119 8,293,679
2021 4,541,050 9,132,872
20221 8,238,811 32,518,340
2023 9,019,501 39,183,239
% change
Q4 2022 to Q4 2023 9%
Year 2022 to Year 2023 20%
1 Minor revisions to 2022 data

Created with Highcharts 9.3.385 %​Dublin​85 %​Dublin7 %​Cork​7 %​Cork5 %​Shannon​5 %​Shannon3 %​Other​3 %​OtherHighcharts.comFigure 2 Passenger number distribution by airport, 2023 (39.2 million)
Created with Highcharts 9.3.386 %​Dublin​86 %​Dublin7 %​Cork​7 %​Cork4 %​Shannon​4 %​Shannon4 %​Other​4 %​OtherHighcharts.comFigure 3 Passenger number distribution by airport, 2019 (38.1 million)
Passenger number distribution by airport, 2023
Dublin 85
Cork 7
Shannon 5
Other 3
Passenger number distribution by airport, 2019
Dublin 86
Cork 7
Shannon 4
Other 4
Table 2 Number of passengers handled by main airports, Quarter 4 and Year 2019-2023
Table 2 Number of passengers1 handled by main airports, Quarter 4 and Year 2019-2023
Quarter 4
Airport 2019 2020 2021 20222 2023 % change 2022-2023
Dublin 7,385,982 702,109 4,103,576 7,073,346 7,684,724 9%
Cork 550,423 31,461 87,348 537,111 640,341 19%
Shannon 341,416 12,081 184,257 367,771 421,295 15%
Knock 180,453 7,048 102,186 170,536 182,254 7%
Kerry 82,678 6,420 63,683 90,045 90,887 1%
Total 8,540,952 759,119 4,541,050 8,238,809 9,019,501 9%
January to December
2019 2020 2021 20222 2023 % change 2022-2023
Dublin 32,676,251 7,267,240 8,266,271 27,793,345 33,259,959 20%
Cork 2,585,466 527,014 255,014 2,238,455 2,797,844 25%
Shannon 1,616,422 273,934 322,162 1,421,957 1,897,599 33%
Knock 805,443 142,532 174,027 709,540 813,266 15%
Kerry 369,836 82,959 115,398 355,043 414,571 17%
Total 38,053,418 8,293,679 9,132,872 32,518,340 39,183,239 20%
1 Passenger numbers refer to commercial passengers only. Transit passengers are included and are counted twice (i.e. both as arriving and departing passengers).
2 Minor revisions to data

Table 3 Total passenger numbers handled by all airports, 2019 - 2023
Table 3 Total passenger numbers handled by all airports, 2019 - 2023
Airport 2019 2020 2021 20221 2023 % change 2022-2023
Dublin 32,676,251 7,267,240 8,266,271 27,793,345 33,259,959 20%
Cork 2,585,466 527,014 255,014 2,238,455 2,797,844 25%
Shannon 1,616,422 273,934 322,162 1,421,957 1,897,599 33%
Knock 805,443 142,532 174,027 709,540 813,266 15%
Kerry 369,836 82,959 115,398 355,043 414,571 17%
Donegal 48,542 18,067 14,603 36,934 41,867 13%
Connemara2 15,382 8,890 .. .. .. ..
Inishmore2 8,831 5,020 .. .. .. ..
Total 38,126,173 8,325,656 9,147,475 32,555,274 39,225,106 20%
1 Minor revisions to data
2 Data for Connemara and Inishmore airports for 2021, 2022 and 2023 not available at the time of publication

Table 4 Passenger numbers classified by arrivals and departures handled by main airports, 2019 -2023
Table 4 Passenger1 numbers classified by arrivals and departures handled by main airports, 2019 -2023
Number
Airport 2019 2020 2021 20222 2023
Arrivals
Cork 1,290,701 264,585 126,262 1,120,302 1,400,293
Dublin 16,318,334 3,645,975 4,115,733 13,942,362 16,637,110
Kerry 183,484 40,564 56,909 171,480 200,440
Knock 399,484 68,530 86,194 357,409 395,086
Shannon 803,878 137,830 160,405 711,830 952,713
Total arrivals 18,995,881 4,157,484 4,545,503 16,303,383 19,585,642
Departures
Cork 1,294,765 262,429 128,752 1,118,153 1,397,551
Dublin 16,357,917 3,621,265 4,150,538 13,850,983 16,622,849
Kerry 186,352 42,395 58,489 183,563 214,131
Knock 405,959 74,002 87,833 352,131 418,180
Shannon 812,544 136,104 161,757 710,127 944,886
Total departures 19,057,537 4,136,195 4,587,369 16,214,957 19,597,597
All
Cork 2,585,466 527,014 255,014 2,238,455 2,797,844
Dublin 32,676,251 7,267,240 8,266,271 27,793,345 33,259,959
Kerry 369,836 82,959 115,398 355,043 414,571
Knock 805,443 142,532 174,027 709,540 813,266
Shannon 1,616,422 273,934 322,162 1,421,957 1,897,599
Total passengers 38,053,418 8,293,679 9,132,872 32,518,340 39,183,239
1 Passenger numbers refer to commercial passengers only. Transit passengers are included and are counted twice (i.e. both as arriving and departing passengers).
2 Minor revisions to data

Table 5 Number of flights classified by arrivals and departures handled by main airports, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Table 5 Number of flights classified by arrivals and departures handled by main airports, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Quarter 4 January to December
Arrivals
Cork 2,327 9,885
Dublin 27,480 114,906
Kerry 390 1,746
Knock 634 2,836
Shannon 1,727 7,568
Total arrivals 32,558 136,941
Departures
Cork 2,334 9,892
Dublin 27,454 114,850
Kerry 390 1,775
Knock 682 2,937
Shannon 1,709 7,430
Total departures 32,569 136,884
All
Cork 4,661 19,777
Dublin 54,934 229,756
Kerry 780 3,521
Knock 1,316 5,773
Shannon 3,436 14,998
Total flights 65,127 273,825

Table 6A Top 10 arrivals and departures for Dublin airport by number of passengers, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Table 6A Top 10 arrivals and departures for Dublin airport by number of passengers, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Quarter 4 January to December
Arrivals Departures Total Arrivals Departures Total
London - Heathrow 213,806 212,685 426,491 London - Heathrow 849,056 844,567 1,693,623
London - Gatwick 164,614 156,834 321,448 London - Gatwick 646,427 633,313 1,279,740
Amsterdam - Schiphol 150,835 149,984 300,819 Amsterdam - Schiphol 596,646 593,097 1,189,743
Manchester 131,440 132,891 264,331 Manchester 483,282 488,350 971,632
London - Stansted 119,129 113,609 232,738 London - Stansted 468,430 456,153 924,583
Birmingham 107,660 107,673 215,333 Birmingham 402,233 406,385 808,618
Paris - Charles De Gaulle 92,482 93,333 185,815 Malaga 386,914 387,602 774,516
Edinburgh 88,128 85,811 173,939 Edinburgh 369,843 355,493 725,336
Malaga 78,315 74,838 153,153 Paris - Charles De Gaulle 359,191 357,812 717,003
Barcelona - El Prat 75,168 73,910 149,078 Faro 325,020 319,863 644,883

Table 6B Top 10 arrivals and departures for Cork airport by number of passengers, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Table 6B Top 10 arrivals and departures for Cork airport by number of passengers, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Quarter 4 January to December
Arrivals Departures Total Arrivals Departures Total
London - Heathrow 45,806 46,464 92,270 London - Heathrow 187,590 188,199 375,789
London - Stansted 36,077 34,778 70,855 London - Stansted 149,111 146,192 295,303
Amsterdam - Schiphol 28,778 29,588 58,366 Amsterdam - Schiphol 103,276 104,720 207,996
Manchester 24,939 24,638 49,577 Manchester 100,909 99,111 200,020
Edinburgh 17,266 17,273 34,539 Malaga 78,200 78,010 156,210
Malaga 16,693 15,997 32,690 Edinburgh 73,885 74,931 148,816
London- Gatwick 15,287 14,651 29,938 Faro 71,046 70,616 141,662
Lanzarote 14,612 15,176 29,788 Lanzarote 60,355 60,776 121,131
Faro 12,783 11,844 24,627 London- Gatwick 60,610 60,216 120,826
Tenerife 9,823 10,847 20,670 Palma de Mallorca 45,508 46,005 91,513

Table 6C Top 10 arrivals and departures for Shannon airport by number of passengers, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Table 6C Top 10 arrivals and departures for Shannon airport by number of passengers, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Quarter 4 January to December
Arrivals Departures Total Arrivals Departures Total
London - Heathrow 32,364 32,520 64,884 London - Heathrow 130,910 127,183 258,093
London - Stansted 27,057 25,153 52,210 London - Stansted 122,451 117,643 240,094
London - Gatwick 14,771 14,455 29,226 London - Gatwick 59,640 59,936 119,576
New York - John F Kennedy 12,957 13,733 26,690 Boston - Logan 49,345 51,637 100,982
Boston - Logan 10,045 11,357 21,402 New York - John F Kennedy 47,067 50,128 97,195
Krakow - Balice 9,235 9,503 18,738 Manchester 40,913 38,590 79,503
Manchester 8,585 8,336 16,921 Krakow - Balice 31,452 31,468 62,920
Wroclaw - Strachowice 7,642 8,080 15,722 Newark Liberty 29,679 31,238 60,917
Alicante 7,551 7,333 14,884 Edinburgh 31,175 27,827 59,002
Lanzarote 6,896 6,965 13,861 Alicante 28,255 28,175 56,430

Table 6D Top 10 arrivals and departures for Knock airport by number of passengers, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Table 6D Top 10 arrivals and departures for Knock airport by number of passengers, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Quarter 4 January to December
Arrivals Departures Total Arrivals Departures Total
London - Stansted 17,718 18,246 35,964 London - Stansted 75,502 79,635 155,137
London - Luton 15,837 15,090 30,927 London - Luton 65,018 65,432 130,450
Liverpool 12,295 12,155 24,450 Liverpool 50,038 50,886 100,924
London - Heathrow 10,316 9,651 19,967 London - Heathrow 34,076 32,544 66,620
Edinburgh 5,359 5,235 10,594 Edinburgh 21,343 22,048 43,391
Manchester 5,024 5,325 10,349 East Midlands 21,543 21,778 43,321
East Midlands 4,979 4,671 9,650 Birmingham 12,073 26,810 38,883
Birmingham 1,238 7,801 9,039 Manchester 18,351 19,788 38,139
Faro 2,834 2,393 5,227 Bristol 17,216 17,379 34,595
Lanzarote 2,066 2,343 4,409 Faro 14,941 15,153 30,094

Table 6E Top 5 arrivals and departures for Kerry airport by number of passengers, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Table 6E Top 5 arrivals and departures for Kerry airport by number of passengers, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Quarter 4 January to December
Arrivals Departures Total Arrivals Departures Total
Dublin 12,948 14,840 27,788 Dublin 51,477 58,778 110,255
London - Luton 12,128 11,798 23,926 London - Luton 49,955 54,076 104,031
London - Stansted 7,130 7,291 14,421 London - Stansted 34,059 36,173 70,232
Frankfurt-Hahn 4,785 4,804 9,589 Frankfurt-Hahn 20,302 19,580 39,882
Manchester 3,502 3,783 7,285 Alicante 16,545 16,697 33,242

Table 7 Number of passengers classified by country of flight stage origin and destination handled by main airports, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Table 7 Number of passengers classified by country of flight stage origin and destination handled by main airports, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Continent Country Quarter 4 January to December
Arrivals Departures Total Arrivals Departures Total
Europe Austria 26,916 28,060 54,976 116,604 114,286 230,890
Belgium 65,778 64,733 130,511 256,482 252,805 509,287
Bulgaria 10,478 10,937 21,415 59,825 59,921 119,746
Croatia 19,864 17,024 36,888 142,298 137,484 279,782
Cyprus 5,227 5,091 10,318 17,018 16,962 33,980
Czech Republic 27,761 28,763 56,524 95,556 96,744 192,300
Denmark 34,893 36,940 71,833 156,750 158,701 315,451
Estonia 2,860 2,923 5,783 6,973 6,954 13,927
Finland 24,133 26,571 50,704 57,526 59,323 116,849
France 266,194 263,724 529,918 1,246,013 1,249,409 2,495,422
Germany 232,483 240,355 472,838 1,011,243 1,013,866 2,025,109
Greece 25,303 21,317 46,620 178,334 180,126 358,460
Hungary 33,279 34,633 67,912 121,955 122,200 244,155
Iceland 21,482 23,384 44,866 88,276 90,879 179,155
Italy 200,942 193,631 394,573 1,009,118 1,000,783 2,009,901
Latvia 13,182 13,614 26,796 54,034 54,904 108,938
Lithuania 18,438 19,017 37,455 99,068 99,292 198,360
Luxembourg 13,960 13,759 27,719 52,054 52,362 104,416
Malta 12,256 11,735 23,991 51,696 51,778 103,474
Moldovia 13,555 13,938 27,493 60,163 54,702 114,865
Netherlands 186,271 185,740 372,011 728,768 725,657 1,454,425
Norway 15,317 16,352 31,669 56,830 59,012 115,842
Poland 129,143 134,806 263,949 520,400 516,156 1,036,556
Portugal 158,724 152,182 310,906 804,110 799,217 1,603,327
Romania 36,157 40,723 76,880 158,984 155,953 314,937
Slovakia 8,788 9,076 17,864 45,462 44,637 90,099
Spain 592,114 582,158 1,174,272 2,751,324 2,753,957 5,505,281
Sweden 24,079 23,786 47,865 96,118 93,489 189,607
Switzerland 48,799 50,799 99,598 233,281 229,737 463,018
Turkey 44,304 45,891 90,195 207,222 207,035 414,257
UK - England 1,366,935 1,353,106 2,720,041 5,476,579 5,469,475 10,946,054
UK - Northern Ireland 133 - 133 2,913 8 2,921
UK - Scotland 187,822 182,204 370,026 771,682 754,503 1,526,185
UK - Wales 9,550 9,373 18,923 41,597 42,378 83,975
UK - Other 5,541 5,664 11,205 29,946 31,547 61,493
Total UK 1,569,981 1,550,347 3,120,328 6,322,717 6,297,911 12,620,628
Other 55 549 604 292 2,255 2,547
Total Europe 3,882,716 3,862,558 7,745,274 16,806,494 16,758,497 33,564,991
North America Canada 42,257 48,140 90,397 252,460 265,165 517,625
USA 394,007 434,882 828,889 1,810,132 1,874,563 3,684,695
Other 0 7 7 2,373 2,753 5,126
Total North America 436,264 483,029 919,293 2,064,965 2,142,481 4,207,446
Africa Total Africa 16,219 17,671 33,890 61,363 60,831 122,194
United Arab Emirates 76,361 89,087 165,448 336,115 332,281 668,396
Other 42,528 43,677 86,205 168,147 157,793 325,940
Total Asia 118,889 132,764 251,653 504,262 490,074 994,336
Other1 Total other 1,478 1,117 2,595 14,373 12,867 27,240
All continents2 4,455,566 4,497,139 8,952,705 19,451,457 19,464,750 38,916,207
1 Due to residual coding errors some passengers cannot be assigned a country of flight origin/destination.
2 This figure refers to international passengers only and excludes domestic passenger numbers.

Table 8 Air freight classified by national and international traffic handled by main airports, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Table 8 Air freight classified by national and international traffic handled by main airports, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Tonnes
Quarter 4 January to December
National freight traffic
Cork 0 0
Dublin 1,620 6,615
Kerry 0 0
Knock 0 0
Shannon 860 3,260
Total national freight1 2,480 9,874
International freight traffic
Cork 4 29
Dublin 39,301 145,713
Kerry 0 0
Knock 2 8
Shannon 3,434 13,493
Total international freight 42,742 159,243
All
Cork 4 29
Dublin 40,922 152,328
Kerry 0 0
Knock 2 8
Shannon 4,294 16,752
Total freight1 45,222 169,117
1 Totals may vary slightly due to rounding

Table 9 Air freight classified by arrivals and departures handled by main airports, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Table 9 Air freight classified by arrivals and departures handled by main airports, Quarter 4 and Year 2023
Tonnes
Quarter 4 January to December
Arrival
Cork 4 22
Dublin 22,347 82,223
Kerry 0 0
Knock 2 7
Shannon 2,270 9,003
Total arrivals - freight1 24,623 91,256
Departure
Cork 0 7
Dublin 18,574 70,105
Kerry 0 0
Knock 0 0
Shannon 2,024 7,749
Total departures - freight1 20,599 77,861
All
Cork 4 29
Dublin 40,922 152,328
Kerry 0 0
Knock 2 8
Shannon 4,294 16,752
Total freight1 45,222 169,117
1 Totals may vary slightly due to rounding

Table 10 Seasonally adjusted number of passengers handled by main airports
Table 10: Seasonally adjusted number of passengers handled by main airports
Airport Q4 2022 Q3 2023 Q4 2023 % change Q3 2023-Q4 2023
Dublin 4,442,822 7,363,780 7,647,503 4%
Cork 114,200 603,000 636,000 5%
Shannon 206,665 370,199 409,227 11%
Knock 118,900 185,600 201,000 8%
Kerry 70,618 94,499 100,026 6%
Total passengers 4,953,205 8,617,078 8,993,756 4%