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E-mail: transport@cso.ie Noreen Dorgan +353 21 453 5260 Brendan Curtin +353 21 453 5120
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information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-7581
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Aviation Statistics

2015

Total number of passengers handled by Irish airports 2013-2015
     
 201320142015% change
 2014-2015
     
All passengers24,775,73526,486,13129,798,803+12.5
     

Increase of 12.5% in number of passengers handled by Irish airports in 2015

Figure 1: All passenger numbers handled by all Irish airports
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In 2015, almost 30 million passengers passed through Irish airports, an increase of 12.5% over the previous year. This is the highest number of passengers handled by Irish airports since 2008, when 31.3 million passengers travelled through Irish airports. See Table 3.

Passenger numbers increased in all but two airports, Cork and Knock. Dublin airport accounted for 83.8% of all air passengers. See Table 1.

The number of departing passengers marginally exceeded those arriving for the main airports in 2015. In total, there were 14.83 million arrivals and 14.87 million departures for the main airports. See Tables 2 and 6.

The results also show that:

  • Almost 232,000 flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in 2015. Dublin accounted for over 81% of all flights (188,771) while Cork handled almost 8% of all flights (17,910). See Tables 7, 8 and 9.
  • London-Heathrow, London-Gatwick and London-Stansted were the most popular routes for passengers in Dublin airport in 2015. For Cork, the top three routes were London-Heathrow, London-Stansted and Amsterdam. In Shannon, the main routes were London-Heathrow, London-Stansted and New York–John F Kennedy while London-Stansted, London-Luton and Liverpool-John Lennon were the most popular routes to and from Knock. See Tables 10A to 10E.
  • In 2015, almost nine out out of every ten passengers (87.7%) on international flights in the five main airports were travelling to or from Europe. The three most popular countries of origin/destination were the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States of America, together accounting for 59% of all passengers. See Table 11.
  • Ireland's main airports handled a total of 149,800 tonnes of freight in 2015, the vast majority (93.2%) of which was international freight. See Table 12.
Passenger number distribution by airport, 2008
Dublin75
Cork10.4
Shannon9.4
Knock2
Kerry1.4
Other1.8
Passenger number distribution by airport, 2015
Dublin83.8
Cork6.9
Shannon5.6
Knock2.3
Kerry1
Other0.4
Table 1: Total passenger numbers handled by all airports, 2013 - 2015
     
Airport201320142015% change 2014-2015
     
Dublin20,148,57421,694,89324,962,51815.1
Cork2,252,6362,138,0572,065,678-3.4
Shannon1,308,2421,555,2251,680,2728.0
Knock665,558703,670684,671-2.7
Kerry306,042294,955303,0392.7
Donegal33,76835,41536,5523.2
Waterford28,16833,18934,2493.2
Connemara20,35419,23619,7532.7
Inishmore12,39311,49112,0715.0
     
Total24,775,73526,486,13129,798,80312.5
     
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 1 (XLS 11KB)
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Table 2: Passenger numbers classified by arrivals and departures handled by main airports, 2015
      Number
Passenger typeCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
       
Arrivals1,028,39412,466,806152,589339,152841,67214,828,613
       
Departures1,037,28412,495,712150,450345,519838,60014,867,565
       
All passengers2,065,67824,962,518303,039684,6711,680,27229,696,178
       
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 2 (XLS 11KB)
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Table 3: Total passenger numbers handled by all airports, 2008 - 2015
        Number
Airport20082009201020112012201320142015
         
Connemara19,44218,86919,61217,96619,49020,35419,23619,753
Cork3,259,1092,767,7762,422,8722,356,6292,333,6432,252,6362,138,0572,065,678
Donegal65,53950,76146,82538,30929,22633,76835,41536,552
Dublin23,507,20520,507,44618,426,82318,749,07819,090,78120,148,57421,694,89324,962,518
Galway1266,473195,804154,81467,002----
Inishmore10,6289,87211,65010,62912,12612,39311,49112,071
Kerry426,115356,738383,866310,937286,442306,042294,955303,039
Knock630,806606,464586,393653,637677,368665,558703,670684,671
Shannon2,956,3272,579,6761,531,3091,364,8311,286,1391,308,2421,555,2251,680,272
Sligo142,49326,70621,0777,111----
Waterford144,253110,826103,98681,57577,87528,16833,18934,249
         
Total31,328,39027,230,93823,709,22723,657,70423,813,09024,775,73526,486,13129,798,803
         
1 Galway and Sligo ceased commercial flights during 2011
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 3 (XLS 12KB)
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Table 4: Passenger numbers by month handled by main airports, 2015
      Number
MonthCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
 
January117,1831,455,60514,83432,32185,2801,705,223
February120,8101,469,35915,64436,96778,5291,721,309
March141,5601,815,96016,32844,125105,0022,122,975
April166,9742,016,47027,71762,544127,6442,401,349
May189,3342,231,60429,13366,766158,7942,675,631
June223,8222,484,98231,45970,732192,9833,003,978
July242,7632,683,31334,88082,459212,2293,255,644
August223,0662,630,97835,81979,895198,9973,168,755
September187,9722,307,04828,98463,952163,5562,751,512
October189,5302,273,49929,88162,951146,8962,702,757
November132,6781,827,69220,20942,319105,0852,127,983
December129,9861,766,00818,15139,640105,2772,059,062
     
Total2,065,67824,962,518303,039684,6711,680,27229,696,178
       
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 4 (XLS 12KB)
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Table 5: Passenger numbers classified by national and international traffic handled by main airports, 2015
      Number
TrafficCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
       
National traffic2,34673,80144,48906,706127,342
      
International traffic2,063,33224,888,717258,550684,6711,673,56629,568,836
       
Total traffic2,065,67824,962,518303,039684,6711,680,27229,696,178
       
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 5 (XLS 11KB)
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Table 6: Passenger numbers classified by arrivals and departures by month handled by main airports, 2015
      Number
MonthCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
       
All passengers      
January117,1831,455,60514,83432,32185,2801,705,223
February120,8101,469,35915,64436,96778,5291,721,309
March141,5601,815,96016,32844,125105,0022,122,975
April166,9742,016,47027,71762,544127,6442,401,349
May189,3342,231,60429,13366,766158,7942,675,631
June223,8222,484,98231,45970,732192,9833,003,978
July242,7632,683,31334,88082,459212,2293,255,644
August223,0662,630,97835,81979,895198,9973,168,755
September187,9722,307,04828,98463,952163,5562,751,512
October189,5302,273,49929,88162,951146,8962,702,757
November132,6781,827,69220,20942,319105,0852,127,983
December129,9861,766,00818,15139,640105,2772,059,062
      
Total passengers2,065,67824,962,518303,039684,6711,680,27229,696,178
      
Arrivals      
January54,569722,2776,53614,07841,468838,928
February60,571740,1837,81218,44340,042867,051
March70,288900,85610,41722,24252,8171,056,620
April83,7291,023,50013,59130,11164,6341,215,565
May92,0951,094,13514,65432,99278,3861,312,262
June107,6741,205,59315,21033,90594,1321,456,514
July125,2451,353,20417,94342,576107,5941,646,562
August112,7131,337,31818,00440,22899,6271,607,890
September92,5351,157,63013,99930,65580,8111,375,630
October96,0691,138,17715,01231,96173,4921,354,711
November66,071917,8619,64620,61352,5751,066,766
December66,835876,0729,76521,34856,0941,030,114
      
Total arrivals1,028,39412,466,806152,589339,152841,67214,828,613
      
Departures      
January62,614733,3288,29818,24343,812866,295
February60,239729,1767,83218,52438,487854,258
March71,272915,1045,91121,88352,1851,066,355
April83,245992,97014,12632,43363,0101,185,784
May97,2391,137,46914,47933,77480,4081,363,369
June116,1481,279,38916,24936,82798,8511,547,464
July117,5181,330,10916,93739,883104,6351,609,082
August110,3531,293,66017,81539,66799,3701,560,865
September95,4371,149,41814,98533,29782,7451,375,882
October93,4611,135,32214,86930,99073,4041,348,046
November66,607909,83110,56321,70652,5101,061,217
December63,151889,9368,38618,29249,1831,028,948
      
Total departures1,037,28412,495,712150,450345,519838,60014,867,565
       
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 6 (XLS 13KB)
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Table 7: Number of flights classified by national and international traffic handled by main airports, 2015
      Number
TrafficCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
       
National traffic753,4011,43307955,704
       
International traffic17,835185,3701,6805,16215,897225,944
       
Total traffic17,910188,7713,1135,16216,692231,648
       
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 7 (XLS 11KB)
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Table 8: Number of flights classified by arrivals and departures handled by main airports, 2015
      Number
FlightsCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
       
Arrivals8,98594,4921,5712,5878,396116,031
       
Departures8,92594,2791,5422,5758,296115,617
       
All flights17,910188,7713,1135,16216,692231,648
       
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 8 (XLS 11KB)
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Table 9: Number of flights classified by scheduled and non-scheduled travel handled by main airports, 2015
      Number
FlightsCorkDublinKerryKnockShannonTotal
       
Scheduled flights17,537185,7753,1015,00112,436223,850
       
Non-scheduled flights3732,996121614,2567,798
       
All flights17,910188,7713,1135,16216,692231,648
       
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 9 (XLS 11KB)
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Table 10A: Top 10 arrivals and departures for Dublin airport by number of passengers, 2015
   Number
 ArrivalsDeparturesTotal
   
London - Heathrow814,565868,5271,683,092
London - Gatwick554,406532,2951,086,701
London - Stansted449,182430,242879,424
Manchester430,940432,692863,632
Birmingham394,236390,938785,174
Paris - Charles De Gaulle351,319352,621703,940
New York - John F Kennedy310,881316,051626,932
Amsterdam Schiphol 305,001307,287612,288
Edinburgh272,747267,832540,579
Frankfurt257,764257,488515,252
    
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 10A (XLS 11KB)
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Table 10B: Top 10 arrivals and departures for Cork airport by number of passengers, 2015
   Number
 ArrivalsDeparturesTotal
   
London - Heathrow187,067197,225384,292
London - Stansted163,736156,449320,185
Amsterdam Schiphol 85,72687,468173,194
London - Gatwick59,94458,132118,076
Malaga54,09553,581107,676
Lanzarote45,09745,25690,353
Paris - Charles De Gaulle45,09044,82189,911
Faro42,39542,20784,602
Manchester39,56141,57781,138
Liverpool - John Lennon39,47239,00678,478
    
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 10B (XLS 11KB)
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Table 10C: Top 10 arrivals and departures for Shannon airport by number of passengers, 2015
   Number
 ArrivalsDeparturesTotal
 
London - Heathrow113,928123,310237,238
London - Stansted121,245112,733233,978
New York - John F Kennedy62,70971,115133,824
London - Gatwick57,08755,882112,969
Manchester53,09152,834105,925
Newark48,01049,52397,533
Boston - Logan47,91747,26395,180
Faro25,33824,63249,970
Malaga20,77621,08741,863
Beauvais/Tille - Paris20,64420,18440,828
    
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 10C (XLS 11KB)
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Table 10D: Top 10 arrivals and departures for Knock airport by number of passengers, 2015
   Number
 ArrivalsDeparturesTotal
 
London - Stansted75,35379,092154,445
London - Luton63,34862,638125,986
Liverpool - John Lennon40,42241,76482,186
London - Gatwick36,49437,55074,044
East Midlands34,79335,41670,209
Faro16,35517,03333,388
Bristol13,78413,96027,744
Manchester12,99313,15726,150
Alicante11,39511,64323,038
Lanzarote9,76410,18819,952
    
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 10D (XLS 11KB)
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Table 10E: Top 5 arrivals and departures for Kerry airport by number of passengers, 2015
   Number
 ArrivalsDeparturesTotal
 
London - Luton54,16849,971104,139
London - Stansted35,51535,92671,441
Frankfurt - Hahn26,08226,10552,187
Dublin21,45223,03744,489
Alicante10,57010,55921,129
    
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 10E (XLS 11KB)
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Table 11: Number of passengers classified by country of flight stage origin and destination handled by main airports, 2015
    Number
ContinentCountryArrivalsDeparturesTotal
     
EuropeAustria61,04060,270121,310
 Belgium270,308269,652539,960
 Czech Republic98,85999,977198,836
 Denmark157,910157,703315,613
 France956,072950,7241,906,796
 Germany928,595923,7671,852,362
 Hungary98,79196,565195,356
 Italy620,334614,5371,234,871
 Latvia62,93864,679127,617
 Lithuania88,83290,607179,439
 Netherlands451,902455,444907,346
 Norway74,72378,017152,740
 Poland488,420488,480976,900
 Portugal419,504416,573836,077
 Spain1,712,7451,712,8663,425,611
 Sweden41,25643,85985,115
 Switzerland169,648172,518342,166
 Turkey121,306121,860243,166
 UK - England5,125,1855,140,32710,265,512
 UK - Northern Ireland1,3994771,876
 UK - Scotland563,631559,6901,123,321
 UK - Wales63,67765,222128,899
 UK - Other26,75926,73353,492
 Total UK5,780,6515,792,44911,573,100
 Other 363,368356,897720,265
 Total Europe12,967,20212,967,44425,934,646
North AmericaCanada151,005162,426313,431
USA1,237,5381,264,2612,501,799
Other12064051611
Total North America1,389,7491,427,0922,816,841
  
AfricaTotal Africa45,94545,13891,083
 
AsiaUnited Arab Emirates359,271357,864717,135
Other1,5581,6413,199
Total Asia360,829359,505720,334
Other1Total other2,9123,0205,932
   
All continents214,766,63714,802,19929,568,836
     
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.
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 11 (XLS 13KB)
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Table 12: Air freight classified by national & international traffic and arrivals & departures handled by main airports, 2015
     Tonnes
TrafficCorkDublinKnockShannonTotal
      
National freight traffic145,09405,02010,128
      
International freight traffic232132,173177,250139,672
      
Arrivals - freight14072,719176,13379,008
      
Departures - freight10764,54806,13770,792
      
All freight247137,2671712,270149,800
      
Open in Excel: Aviation Statistics 2015 Table 12 (XLS 11KB)
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Background Notes

Introduction

Statistics on Aviation are collected under Statutory Instrument (S.I.) No. 91 of 2014 - Statistics (carriage of passengers, freight and mail by air) Order 2013.

The data in this release gives details on the number of passengers, the number of flights classified by arrivals and departures, and by reference to national and international traffic; and covers both scheduled and non-scheduled flights. It also provides information on air freight and mail (in tonnes).  The release also highlights the top routes for each of the five main airports: Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerry.

Data sources

Aviation statistics are compiled from data supplied by all Irish airports. The following Irish airports provide data to the Central Statistics Office: Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Kerry, Knock, Waterford, Connemara, Donegal and Inishmore. Galway and Sligo airports ceased operations in 2011. Data for the five main airports is supplied on a monthly basis. Data for regional airports is supplied annually to the Central Statistics Office.

Definitions

Main airport: A main airport is defined as an airport through which in excess of 150,000 passengers fly per annum. The five main airports in Ireland are Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerry.

Regional airport: A regional airport is defined as an airport through which less than 150,000 passengers fly per annum. The four regional airports in Ireland are Donegal, Waterford, Connemara and Inishmore.

Scheduled flight: The term 'scheduled' in this release, refers to a commercial air service operated according to a published timetable, or with such a regular frequency that it constitutes an easily recognisable systematic series of flights.

Non-scheduled flight: The term 'non-scheduled' in this release, refers to a commercial air service other than scheduled air service e.g. chartered or private aircraft flights.

Direct transit passengers: These are passengers who, following a short stop, continue their journey on the same aircraft with the same flight number as the flight on which they arrived. These passengers are en route to another destination and generally do not disembark from their aircraft.

Transfer passengers: Transfer passengers or ‘connecting passengers’ are defined as passengers who make a stop at an airport without any purpose other than to board another aircraft to reach another destination. Unlike transit passengers, transfer passengers disembark the aircraft and pass through the airport en route to their connecting flight.

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