In Quarter 1 (Q1) 2026, 9.1 million passengers passed through the five main Irish airports, up 11% on the same period in 2025.
The number of flights to and from Irish airports in Q1 2026 increased by 12% to 64,656 from 57,940 in Q1 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 in Q1 2026. The top route for both Cork and Shannon airports was London-Heathrow, while the top route for Knock and Kerry airports was London-Luton.
The tonnage of air freight handled by Irish airports in Q1 2026 rose by 15% when compared with Q1 2025 (50,265 vs 43,549).
Figure 1 illustrates the passenger numbers from Q1 2022 to 2026.
Table 1 Number of passengers handled by main Irish airports, Quarter 1 2022 - 2026
Table 2 Number of passengers handled by main Irish airports, Quarter 1 2022-2026
| Passenger number distribution by airport, Q1 2026 |
| Dublin | 85 |
|---|
| Cork | 7 |
|---|
| Shannon | 5 |
|---|
| Other | 3 |
|---|
Table 3: Passenger numbers classified by arrivals and departures handled by main Irish airports, Quarter 1 2022 - 2026
Table 4 Number of flights classified by arrivals and departures handled by main Irish airports, Quarter 1 2025 - 2026
Table 5A Top 10 arrivals and departures for Dublin airport by number of passengers, Quarter 1 2026
Table 5B Top 10 arrivals and departures for Cork airport by number of passengers, Quarter 1 2026
Table 5C Top 10 arrivals and departures for Shannon airport by number of passengers, Quarter 1 2026
Table 5D Top 10 arrivals and departures for Knock airport by number of passengers, Quarter 1 2026
Table 5E Top 5 arrivals and departures for Kerry airport by number of passengers, Quarter 1 2026
Table 6 Number of passengers classified by country of flight stage origin and destination handled by main Irish airports, Quarter 1 2026
Table 7: Air freight classified by national and international traffic handled by main Irish airports, Quarter 1 2025 - 2026
Table 8 Air freight classified by arrivals and departures handled by main Irish airports, Quarter 1 2026
Table 9 Seasonally adjusted number of passengers handled by main airports
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (18 June 2026) published Aviation Statistics for Quarter 1 (Q1) 2026. Passenger numbers are received for the five main Irish airports: Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock, and Kerry.
Commenting on the release, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “The figures show that passengers travelling to and from Ireland during January, February, and March (Q1) 2026 were up by more than 865,000 passengers (+11%) compared with Q1 2025.
In Q1 2026, 4.5 million passengers departed from Ireland, which was almost 450,000 more passengers than the same period in 2025. Almost 4.6 million passengers arrived in Ireland in Q1 2026, which was more than 400,000 more passengers when compared with Q1 2025.
The amount of air freight handled by the main airports rose by 15% to 50,265 tonnes in the first three months of 2026 when compared with the same period in 2025.
Airports and Routes
London-Heathrow, Amsterdam-Schiphol, and Manchester were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport in Q1 2026. The top route for both Cork and Shannon airports was London-Heathrow, while the top route for both Knock and Kerry airports was London-Luton.
In Q1 2026, almost nine out of every ten passengers (88%) on international flights in the five main airports were travelling to or from Europe. The two most popular countries of origin/destination were the United Kingdom and Spain. Outside of Europe, the United States of America was the most popular country of origin/destination in Q1 2026."