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On 16 April 2026 at 11.30am the third bullet point was updated, revising the first time period from Q4 2024 to Q4 2025.
A record 43.5 million passengers passed through Irish airports in 2025, the highest number of passengers recorded since the series began in 2013.
Just over 2.5 million or 6% more passengers used Irish airports in 2025 compared with 2024 and this was 4.3 million more passengers than in 2023.
Passenger numbers in Quarter 4 (Q4) 2025 were 11% higher when compared with Q4 2024 and 12% higher than Q4 2023 figures.
The number of flights to and from Irish airports in 2025 rose by 6% when compared with 2024 figures (295,310 vs 279,066) with Dublin handling 83% of flights (245,554), while Cork handled 8% of all flights (23,881).
London-Heathrow, Amsterdam-Schiphol, and Manchester were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport in 2025. The top route for Cork and Shannon airports was London-Heathrow, while London-Luton was the most popular for Knock and Kerry airports.
Air freight handled by Irish airports in 2025 was up by 9% compared with 2024 (207,887 vs 190,504 tonnes).
On a seasonally adjusted basis there was a 3% increase in the number of passengers handled by the main Irish airports between Q3 and Q4 2025.
Figure 1 illustrates the passenger numbers from 2021 to 2025.
| X-axis label | Passenger numbers |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 9.1 |
| 2022 | 32.5 |
| 2023 | 39.2 |
| 2024 | 41 |
| 2025 | 43.5 |
| Passenger number distribution by airport, 2025 | |
| Dublin | 84 |
| Cork | 8 |
| Shannon | 5 |
| Other | 3 |
| Passenger number distribution by airport, 2021 | |
| Dublin | 90 |
| Cork | 3 |
| Shannon | 4 |
| Other | 3 |
| X-axis label | Passenger numbers |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 9.1 |
| 2022 | 32.5 |
| 2023 | 39.2 |
| 2024 | 41 |
| 2025 | 43.5 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (16 April 2025) published Aviation Statistics for Quarter 4 (Q4) and Year 2025. Passenger numbers were received for the five main 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 a significant increase in international travel during 2025. In fact, 2025 was a record year in terms of the number of passengers using Irish airports since the series began in 2013, with 43.5 million passengers 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 6% compared with 2024.
More than 1.2 million more passengers travelled to Ireland in 2025 when compared with 2024, and this was 2.1 million more passengers when compared with the same period in 2023.
In 2025, 21.8 million passengers departed from Ireland, which was 1.3 million more than the same period in 2024, and 2.2 million more passengers when compared with 2023.
In October, November, and December (Q4) 2025, 10.1 million passengers passed through Irish airports, which was 972,455 more passengers when compared with the same period in 2024 and 1.1 million more than the same period in 2023.
Airports and Routes
More than 295,000 flights were handled by Ireland's five main airports in 2025, with Dublin handling 83% of all flights (245,554), while Cork accounted for 8% of all flights (23,881). The number of flights passing through Irish airports in 2025 increased by 6% when compared with 2024.
London-Heathrow, Amsterdam-Schiphol, and Manchester were the most popular routes for passengers travelling through Dublin airport in 2025. The top route for Cork and Shannon airports was London-Heathrow, while London-Luton was the most popular for Knock and Kerry airports.
In 2025, more than eight out of every ten passengers (85%) 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 2025.”