New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that a total of 9.1 million passengers passed through the five main Irish airports – Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerry – in the first quarter of this year, up 11% on the same time in 2025.
The CSO said that 4.5 million passengers departed from Ireland in the three months from January to March, which was almost 450,000 more passengers than the same time in 2025.
Almost 4.6 million passengers arrived in Ireland in the three month period, which was more than 400,000 more passengers when compared with the first quarter of last year, the CSO added.
Meanwhile, the number of flights to and from Irish airports in the first quarter increased by 12% to 64,656 from 57,940 in the first quarter of 2025.
Dublin airport handled 84% of all flights (54,494), followed by Cork airport with 7% of all flights (4,731).
London-Heathrow, Amsterdam-Schiphol, and Manchester were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport during the three month period under review.
The top route for both Cork and Shannon airports was London-Heathrow, while the top route for Knock and Kerry airports was London-Luton.
Today’s CSO figures also show that the tonnage of air freight handled by Irish airports in the first quarter of the year rose by 15% on the same time last year, rising to 50,265 tonnes from 43,549.
