Increase of 3.9% in passengers through State’s airports

There was an increase of 3.9 per cent in the number of passengers who passed through the State’s five main airports during the first quarter of 2018, compared with the same period last year.

More than 6.9 million passengers passed through the five main airports, according to the Central Statistics Office. Passenger numbers increased in Cork, Dublin, Kerry and Shannon, while passenger numbers decreased in Knock.

Dublin airport accounted for 87 per cent of all air passengers.

More than 54,600 flights were handled by the State’s five main airports. Dublin accounted for 84.7 per cent of all flights (46,267) while Cork handled 7.3 per cent of all flights (3,984).

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London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick and Amsterdam-Schiphol were the most popular routes for passengers for Dublin airport. In Cork, the top three routes were London-Heathrow, London-Stansted and Amsterdam-Schiphol.

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

Five main airports

Almost nine out of every 10 passengers (88 per cent) on international flights in the five main airports were travelling to or from Europe. The two most popular states of origin/destination were the United Kingdom and Spain.

Outside of Europe, the United States was the most popular country of origin/destination in the first quarter of 2018.

The Republic’s main airports handled a total of 37,936 tonnes of freight, the vast majority (93.6 per cent) of which was international freight.

When seasonally adjusted, there was a decrease in the number of passengers (-2 per cent) that passed through the main airports during the first quarter of the year compared with final quarter of 2017.

Safety and security

Regional airports will share almost €4 million in State cash this year to boost safety and security.

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross pledged on Monday to provide Donegal, Kerry and Knock, Co Mayo, airports with grants for capital spending.

Mr Ross said that he would allocate a total of €3.85 million to the three airports. Donegal will receive €326,700, Kerry will get €1.2 million, and Knock will get the biggest grant, €2.3 million.