| Direction | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Change | ||||
| Apr | Apr | Mar | Apr | Monthly | Annual | Biennial | ||
| '000 | % | |||||||
| Arrivals | 1712.9 | 16.1 | 61.4 | 69.4 | 13.1% | 331.2% | -95.9% | |
| Departures | 1736.4 | 17.8 | 66.5 | 73.0 | 9.8% | 310.4% | -95.8% | |
.png)
In April 2021 there were 69,400 overseas passenger arrivals and 73,000 overseas passenger departures. These compare with 61,400 arrivals and 66,500 departures in March 2021, increases of 13.1% and 9.8% respectively. Overseas travel in April 2021 increased more than threefold compared April 2020, when there were 16,100 arrivals and 17,800 departures. However, for every overseas traveller in April 2021, there were 24 in pre-pandemic April 2019, when there were 1,712,900 arrivals and 1,736,400 departures.
Of the 69,400 persons arriving in Ireland in April 2021, 88.5% (61,400) arrived by air and 11.5% (8,000) arrived by sea. Of the 73,000 persons departing Ireland, 84.3% (61,500) departed by air and 15.7% (11,500) departed by sea (See Tables 1A and 1B).
The continental route accounted for most passenger traffic, with 57.8% of arrivals (40,100) and 51.0% of departures (37,300). The cross-channel route was next busiest, with 31.2% of arrivals (21,600) and 38.3% departures (28,000). The transatlantic route saw just 4.8% of arrivals (3,300) and 4.6% of departures (3,300) (See Tables 2A and 2B).
However, in terms of specific routing countries for travelling directly to Ireland, Great Britain proved most important, accounting for 21,600 arrivals and 28,000 departures. The Netherlands was the second most important routing country, with 7,300 arrivals and 6,100 departures. Spain was third most important with 6,300 arrivals and 5,000 departures.
For the year-to-date (January-April), 293,700 persons arrived in Ireland from overseas and 311,400 persons departed. This compares with 3,101,300 arrivals and 3,063,100 departures in the same period in 2020, and 5,579,300 arrivals and 5,575,700 departures in the same period in 2019.
| The collection of Tourism Statistics at air and sea ports was suspended in March 2020, to protect CSO enumerators and the travelling public. As a result, the details of travel to Ireland classified by country of residence, which are presented in the monthly Overseas Travel release, are not currently being collected and that release has been temporarily suspended. To help fill the data gap, the CSO is publishing this new Air and Sea Travel Statistics release which reports on the numbers of overseas travellers arriving and departing Ireland classified by travel route. The information is compiled primarily from statistics provided by the DAA, together with data from other air and sea ports. The CSO intends to continue publishing this Air and Sea Travel Statistics release for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis. |
| Table 1A: Overseas arrivals by year, month and mode | 000's | |||||||||||||
| Mode | Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
| Air | 2019 | 1,174.6 | 1,142.4 | 1,400.5 | 1,596.9 | 1,712.0 | 1,823.7 | 2,017.7 | 2,033.6 | 1,764.4 | 1,646.3 | 1,305.1 | 1,290.4 | 18,907.5 |
| 2020 | 1,195.2 | 1,171.7 | 603.6 | 12.1 | 19.9 | 40.2 | 188.1 | 311.6 | 224.0 | 142.5 | 90.9 | 135.9 | 4,135.7 | |
| 2021 | 101.1 | 50.5 | 55.1 | 61.4 | 268.1 | |||||||||
| Sea | 2019 | 38.6 | 44.9 | 65.4 | 116.0 | 106.8 | 117.4 | 208.1 | 222.9 | 106.7 | 80.8 | 46.3 | 82.2 | 1,236.2 |
| 2020 | 39.9 | 43.4 | 31.3 | 4.0 | 8.4 | 16.9 | 39.2 | 51.0 | 30.4 | 18.5 | 12.9 | 28.5 | 324.5 | |
| 2021 | 6.9 | 4.3 | 6.3 | 8.0 | 25.5 | |||||||||
| All | 2019 | 1,213.2 | 1,187.3 | 1,465.9 | 1,712.9 | 1,818.9 | 1,941.1 | 2,225.9 | 2,256.5 | 1,871.1 | 1,727.1 | 1,351.4 | 1,372.6 | 20,143.7 |
| 2020 | 1,235.1 | 1,215.1 | 635.0 | 16.1 | 28.3 | 57.1 | 227.3 | 362.6 | 254.4 | 160.9 | 103.9 | 164.4 | 4,460.2 | |
| 2021 | 108.0 | 54.8 | 61.4 | 69.4 | 293.7 | |||||||||
| Table 1B: Overseas departures by year, month and mode | 000's | |||||||||||||
| Mode | Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
| Air | 2019 | 1,169.3 | 1,139.1 | 1,375.4 | 1,622.6 | 1,744.0 | 1,933.4 | 2,006.9 | 1,967.5 | 1,757.4 | 1,660.1 | 1,279.1 | 1,320.2 | 18,975.1 |
| 2020 | 1,183.5 | 1,161.9 | 575.6 | 12.8 | 24.7 | 53.1 | 239.0 | 275.5 | 203.5 | 143.7 | 85.1 | 156.1 | 4,114.7 | |
| 2021 | 104.1 | 46.7 | 57.5 | 61.5 | 269.9 | |||||||||
| Sea | 2019 | 52.3 | 42.0 | 61.3 | 113.8 | 107.5 | 147.5 | 177.0 | 224.3 | 111.8 | 79.8 | 49.3 | 63.5 | 1,230.3 |
| 2020 | 56.3 | 41.4 | 26.5 | 4.9 | 11.6 | 20.8 | 36.4 | 52.7 | 33.2 | 19.6 | 11.7 | 22.8 | 338.0 | |
| 2021 | 14.6 | 6.5 | 8.9 | 11.5 | 41.5 | |||||||||
| All | 2019 | 1,221.6 | 1,181.1 | 1,436.6 | 1,736.4 | 1,851.6 | 2,081.0 | 2,183.9 | 2,191.9 | 1,869.3 | 1,739.9 | 1,328.4 | 1,383.8 | 20,205.3 |
| 2020 | 1,239.8 | 1,203.3 | 602.1 | 17.8 | 36.3 | 73.9 | 275.4 | 328.2 | 236.7 | 163.3 | 96.8 | 178.8 | 4,452.6 | |
| 2021 | 118.7 | 53.2 | 66.5 | 73.0 | 311.4 | |||||||||
| Table 2A: Overseas arrivals by year, month and route | 000's | |||||||||||||
| Route | Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
| Cross-Channel | 2019 | 493.1 | 528.2 | 611.9 | 664.6 | 669.9 | 646.7 | 803.2 | 803.7 | 610.7 | 631.4 | 573.7 | 622.9 | 7,660.1 |
| 2020 | 499.9 | 534.2 | 273.1 | 9.3 | 16.4 | 32.3 | 97.1 | 112.6 | 77.0 | 56.4 | 38.8 | 65.1 | 1,812.3 | |
| 2021 | 15.1 | 13.2 | 17.5 | 21.6 | 67.4 | |||||||||
| Continental | 2019 | 571.1 | 537.7 | 663.6 | 826.6 | 871.5 | 985.4 | 1114.4 | 1119.4 | 960.4 | 864.3 | 599.8 | 568.7 | 9,683.0 |
| 2020 | 586.9 | 553.9 | 271.9 | 3.5 | 8.2 | 18.3 | 114.8 | 228.7 | 158.3 | 91.0 | 54.7 | 79.1 | 2,169.5 | |
| 2021 | 79.5 | 31.6 | 34.8 | 40.1 | 186.1 | |||||||||
| Transatlantic | 2019 | 98.4 | 83.4 | 143.3 | 171.9 | 225.7 | 250.5 | 238.1 | 254.4 | 239.2 | 181.0 | 133.8 | 135.9 | 2,155.6 |
| 2020 | 100.5 | 87.8 | 59.9 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 3.8 | 8.8 | 11.6 | 9.8 | 5.6 | 4.7 | 11.7 | 307.0 | |
| 2021 | 4.9 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 13.1 | |||||||||
| Other | 2019 | 50.7 | 37.9 | 47.1 | 49.8 | 51.7 | 58.5 | 70.1 | 78.9 | 60.8 | 50.4 | 44.1 | 45.2 | 645.1 |
| 2020 | 47.8 | 39.2 | 29.9 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 6.6 | 9.7 | 9.2 | 7.9 | 5.7 | 8.5 | 171.4 | |
| 2021 | 8.4 | 7.9 | 6.3 | 4.4 | 27.1 | |||||||||
| All | 2019 | 1213.2 | 1187.3 | 1465.9 | 1712.9 | 1818.9 | 1941.1 | 2225.9 | 2256.5 | 1871.1 | 1727.1 | 1351.4 | 1372.6 | 20,143.7 |
| 2020 | 1235.1 | 1215.1 | 635.0 | 16.1 | 28.3 | 57.1 | 227.3 | 362.6 | 254.4 | 160.9 | 103.9 | 164.4 | 4,460.2 | |
| 2021 | 108.0 | 54.8 | 61.4 | 69.4 | 293.7 | |||||||||
| Table 2B: Overseas departures by year, month and route | 000's | |||||||||||||
| Route | Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
| Cross-Channel | 2019 | 540.4 | 527.2 | 603.1 | 665.2 | 653.5 | 706.1 | 734.4 | 801.0 | 650.5 | 640.0 | 580.3 | 568.9 | 7,670.5 |
| 2020 | 547.1 | 530.0 | 258.9 | 8.8 | 18.7 | 36.8 | 82.8 | 125.4 | 93.5 | 62.5 | 39.6 | 54.8 | 1,858.9 | |
| 2021 | 36.7 | 17.2 | 20.4 | 28.0 | 102.4 | |||||||||
| Continental | 2019 | 528.7 | 534.3 | 656.3 | 847.6 | 942.2 | 1,063.5 | 1,107.1 | 1,059.1 | 930.4 | 831.4 | 579.1 | 636.1 | 9,715.8 |
| 2020 | 540.7 | 550.7 | 258.9 | 7.3 | 14.6 | 33.3 | 182.4 | 186.0 | 129.3 | 87.9 | 47.1 | 107.1 | 2,145.2 | |
| 2021 | 64.6 | 27.8 | 36.6 | 37.3 | 166.3 | |||||||||
| Transatlantic | 2019 | 103.3 | 82.5 | 137.0 | 175.3 | 208.0 | 246.3 | 268.8 | 259.8 | 232.1 | 209.8 | 130.7 | 131.0 | 2,184.7 |
| 2020 | 104.7 | 86.2 | 62.2 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 4.6 | 7.8 | 6.6 | 5.9 | 4.7 | 7.9 | 295.1 | |
| 2021 | 8.6 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 16.9 | |||||||||
| Other | 2019 | 49.2 | 37.1 | 40.2 | 48.4 | 47.8 | 65.0 | 73.5 | 71.8 | 56.3 | 58.7 | 38.3 | 47.8 | 634.3 |
| 2020 | 47.4 | 36.4 | 22.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 5.6 | 9.0 | 7.4 | 7.1 | 5.3 | 9.1 | 153.3 | |
| 2021 | 8.8 | 5.9 | 6.7 | 4.4 | 25.9 | |||||||||
| All | 2019 | 1,221.6 | 1,181.1 | 1,436.6 | 1,736.4 | 1,851.6 | 2,081.0 | 2,183.9 | 2,191.9 | 1,869.3 | 1,739.9 | 1,328.4 | 1,383.8 | 20,205.3 |
| 2020 | 1,239.8 | 1,203.3 | 602.1 | 17.8 | 36.3 | 73.9 | 275.4 | 328.2 | 236.7 | 163.3 | 96.8 | 178.8 | 4,452.6 | |
| 2021 | 118.7 | 53.2 | 66.5 | 73.0 | 311.4 | |||||||||
| Table 3A: Overseas arrivals by year, month and routing country | 000's | |||||||||||||
| Routing country | Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
| Great Britain | 2019 | 491.8 | 526.8 | 610.2 | 661.7 | 666.7 | 642.5 | 798.2 | 799.0 | 607.6 | 629.7 | 572.2 | 621.2 | 7,627.7 |
| 2020 | 498.7 | 532.6 | 272.3 | 9.3 | 16.4 | 32.3 | 97.1 | 112.6 | 77.0 | 56.4 | 38.8 | 65.1 | 1,808.7 | |
| 2021 | 15.1 | 13.2 | 17.5 | 21.6 | 67.4 | |||||||||
| Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey | 2019 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 4.7 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 32.4 |
| 2020 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.6 | |
| 2021 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |||||||||
| Belgium | 2019 | 19.3 | 20.0 | 23.3 | 22.1 | 21.1 | 19.7 | 21.8 | 20.0 | 19.5 | 22.3 | 21.6 | 21.5 | 252.1 |
| 2020 | 19.2 | 19.7 | 8.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 59.8 | |
| 2021 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 2.3 | |||||||||
| Germany | 2019 | 82.5 | 81.8 | 104.3 | 116.8 | 113.4 | 113.5 | 126.2 | 126.1 | 114.4 | 107.3 | 83.2 | 86.9 | 1,256.3 |
| 2020 | 76.9 | 75.7 | 36.1 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 3.9 | 9.8 | 17.0 | 12.3 | 7.0 | 2.5 | 5.5 | 248.7 | |
| 2021 | 5.0 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 12.3 | |||||||||
| Spain | 2019 | 121.3 | 107.5 | 137.2 | 195.9 | 215.4 | 267.5 | 292.9 | 301.9 | 244.7 | 224.3 | 127.7 | 99.3 | 2,335.5 |
| 2020 | 119.5 | 110.1 | 67.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 23.0 | 33.6 | 19.0 | 13.7 | 12.0 | 13.1 | 412.6 | |
| 2021 | 14.7 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 32.5 | |||||||||
| France | 2019 | 64.7 | 62.8 | 87.8 | 114.6 | 107.4 | 128.4 | 160.4 | 151.2 | 111.5 | 94.0 | 63.8 | 63.7 | 1,210.3 |
| 2020 | 66.8 | 64.2 | 32.6 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 3.0 | 13.2 | 22.0 | 14.4 | 7.7 | 3.8 | 8.7 | 238.4 | |
| 2021 | 9.8 | 4.7 | 5.1 | 4.0 | 23.5 | |||||||||
| Italy | 2019 | 40.2 | 43.9 | 48.6 | 65.7 | 70.4 | 86.1 | 101.2 | 99.6 | 84.8 | 74.4 | 49.7 | 41.6 | 806.1 |
| 2020 | 47.2 | 43.8 | 5.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 6.9 | 27.3 | 22.4 | 6.6 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 163.9 | |
| 2021 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 6.4 | |||||||||
| Netherlands | 2019 | 56.2 | 54.9 | 63.1 | 63.7 | 62.3 | 61.9 | 70.1 | 64.4 | 62.0 | 64.4 | 60.9 | 57.7 | 741.5 |
| 2020 | 57.2 | 56.9 | 27.2 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 4.4 | 9.4 | 13.0 | 12.2 | 8.9 | 8.6 | 14.7 | 216.2 | |
| 2021 | 9.2 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 7.3 | 26.9 | |||||||||
| Poland | 2019 | 44.5 | 35.6 | 40.1 | 43.1 | 44.2 | 40.2 | 43.0 | 45.7 | 43.0 | 44.8 | 42.9 | 45.0 | 512.1 |
| 2020 | 49.6 | 41.3 | 19.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 12.7 | 31.7 | 19.6 | 13.5 | 8.1 | 11.2 | 207.4 | |
| 2021 | 11.3 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 24.4 | |||||||||
| Portugal | 2019 | 22.4 | 20.2 | 26.1 | 61.1 | 75.0 | 82.1 | 92.5 | 95.6 | 86.9 | 68.1 | 29.1 | 23.4 | 682.5 |
| 2020 | 28.4 | 25.8 | 15.8 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 7.4 | 13.0 | 11.7 | 6.6 | 4.7 | 5.4 | 121.1 | |
| 2021 | 6.3 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 10.9 | |||||||||
| Other EU | 2019 | 87.3 | 79.4 | 94.6 | 104.0 | 120.0 | 139.8 | 156.7 | 161.9 | 146.8 | 124.0 | 92.5 | 100.2 | 1,407.3 |
| 2020 | 90.6 | 84.5 | 43.6 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 24.8 | 60.5 | 40.6 | 22.5 | 11.4 | 13.5 | 396.1 | |
| 2021 | 14.7 | 6.0 | 6.9 | 10.3 | 37.9 | |||||||||
| Switzerland | 2019 | 17.3 | 16.9 | 20.5 | 22.2 | 22.1 | 23.3 | 28.1 | 26.7 | 23.4 | 21.6 | 13.4 | 15.8 | 251.2 |
| 2020 | 18.0 | 17.9 | 8.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 54.1 | |
| 2021 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.1 | |||||||||
| Other Europe | 2019 | 15.5 | 14.7 | 18.0 | 17.5 | 20.2 | 23.1 | 21.4 | 26.3 | 23.5 | 19.1 | 15.1 | 13.8 | 228.2 |
| 2020 | 13.6 | 14.0 | 7.9 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 5.4 | 3.0 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 51.1 | |
| 2021 | 3.0 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 6.8 | |||||||||
| United States | 2019 | 90.5 | 76.9 | 133.0 | 154.5 | 199.1 | 214.7 | 199.7 | 214.9 | 200.4 | 157.8 | 124.7 | 125.7 | 1,891.7 |
| 2020 | 92.5 | 80.9 | 54.4 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 8.1 | 10.0 | 8.6 | 5.1 | 4.0 | 10.0 | 280.2 | |
| 2021 | 4.1 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 12.0 | |||||||||
| Other Transatlantic | 2019 | 7.9 | 6.5 | 10.4 | 17.5 | 26.6 | 35.8 | 38.5 | 39.5 | 38.8 | 23.1 | 9.1 | 10.2 | 263.8 |
| 2020 | 8.0 | 6.9 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 26.9 | |
| 2021 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.1 | |||||||||
| United Arab Emirates | 2019 | 29.0 | 21.2 | 26.3 | 25.9 | 24.3 | 28.5 | 33.6 | 37.0 | 28.5 | 22.5 | 25.3 | 28.8 | 330.9 |
| 2020 | 28.5 | 24.5 | 19.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 4.6 | 90.6 | |
| 2021 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 10.5 | |||||||||
| Other Routes | 2019 | 21.7 | 16.7 | 20.8 | 23.8 | 27.4 | 30.0 | 36.5 | 42.0 | 32.3 | 27.8 | 18.8 | 16.4 | 314.2 |
| 2020 | 19.3 | 14.7 | 10.9 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 6.7 | 6.0 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 80.8 | |
| 2021 | 4.6 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 16.6 | |||||||||
| All | 2019 | 1213.2 | 1187.3 | 1465.9 | 1712.9 | 1818.9 | 1941.1 | 2225.9 | 2256.5 | 1871.1 | 1727.1 | 1351.4 | 1372.6 | 20,143.7 |
| 2020 | 1235.1 | 1215.1 | 635.0 | 16.1 | 28.3 | 57.1 | 227.3 | 362.6 | 254.4 | 160.9 | 103.9 | 164.4 | 4,460.2 | |
| 2021 | 108.0 | 54.8 | 61.4 | 69.4 | 293.7 | |||||||||
| Table 3B: Overseas departures by year, month and routing country | 000's | |||||||||||||
| Routing country | Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
| Great Britain | 2019 | 538.9 | 525.8 | 601.5 | 662.0 | 649.6 | 702.1 | 729.7 | 796.3 | 647.3 | 638.2 | 578.7 | 567.3 | 7,637.4 |
| 2020 | 545.7 | 528.4 | 257.9 | 8.8 | 18.7 | 36.8 | 82.8 | 125.4 | 93.5 | 62.5 | 39.6 | 54.8 | 1,855.0 | |
| 2021 | 36.7 | 17.2 | 20.4 | 28.0 | 102.3 | |||||||||
| Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey | 2019 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 3.2 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 33.1 |
| 2020 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.9 | |
| 2021 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |||||||||
| Belgium | 2019 | 19.3 | 19.4 | 23.2 | 21.5 | 21.4 | 20.5 | 20.4 | 20.2 | 19.4 | 21.7 | 22.7 | 21.1 | 250.9 |
| 2020 | 19.2 | 19.2 | 8.8 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 60.1 | |
| 2021 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 2.8 | |||||||||
| Germany | 2019 | 79.1 | 77.9 | 102.2 | 113.5 | 114.5 | 123.5 | 125.8 | 120.1 | 114.6 | 112.0 | 86.2 | 91.7 | 1,261.0 |
| 2020 | 74.5 | 72.7 | 40.2 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 6.6 | 13.1 | 13.7 | 10.8 | 7.8 | 2.3 | 6.2 | 251.1 | |
| 2021 | 4.9 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 10.4 | |||||||||
| Spain | 2019 | 105.5 | 109.9 | 138.2 | 209.2 | 237.6 | 279.0 | 295.5 | 273.9 | 243.8 | 208.1 | 110.4 | 123.5 | 2,334.5 |
| 2020 | 101.7 | 113.8 | 50.6 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 38.5 | 22.8 | 17.7 | 15.9 | 9.7 | 19.2 | 392.7 | |
| 2021 | 11.7 | 4.3 | 5.8 | 5.0 | 26.7 | |||||||||
| France | 2019 | 60.4 | 60.6 | 85.7 | 112.3 | 122.9 | 150.5 | 146.4 | 152.0 | 106.5 | 88.0 | 67.1 | 69.0 | 1,221.4 |
| 2020 | 63.6 | 63.1 | 34.2 | 1.4 | 3.4 | 5.7 | 20.1 | 17.7 | 10.7 | 7.6 | 3.2 | 11.0 | 241.7 | |
| 2021 | 8.1 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 4.1 | 21.8 | |||||||||
| Italy | 2019 | 36.5 | 43.6 | 47.8 | 69.0 | 78.9 | 88.6 | 98.4 | 96.2 | 84.2 | 68.1 | 45.7 | 47.7 | 804.8 |
| 2020 | 42.7 | 42.5 | 5.8 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 14.7 | 23.3 | 18.6 | 5.7 | 1.1 | 3.8 | 159.9 | |
| 2021 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 5.5 | |||||||||
| Netherlands | 2019 | 57.4 | 54.6 | 62.5 | 61.3 | 65.0 | 67.1 | 64.2 | 66.9 | 61.0 | 65.3 | 61.3 | 57.3 | 743.8 |
| 2020 | 58.4 | 55.0 | 26.5 | 2.0 | 4.1 | 6.2 | 9.4 | 12.7 | 10.3 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 15.3 | 216.6 | |
| 2021 | 8.4 | 4.5 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 24.7 | |||||||||
| Poland | 2019 | 38.3 | 35.9 | 39.6 | 44.8 | 45.0 | 44.4 | 46.2 | 42.4 | 40.4 | 45.0 | 41.7 | 52.4 | 516.0 |
| 2020 | 42.7 | 41.7 | 19.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 23.8 | 23.9 | 17.6 | 13.4 | 6.4 | 17.2 | 207.1 | |
| 2021 | 7.1 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 20.7 | |||||||||
| Portugal | 2019 | 19.0 | 21.0 | 27.3 | 67.5 | 83.1 | 88.9 | 94.6 | 85.7 | 84.5 | 61.6 | 24.7 | 28.9 | 686.8 |
| 2020 | 23.0 | 26.8 | 13.5 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 11.2 | 9.7 | 9.0 | 6.5 | 4.0 | 8.1 | 115.9 | |
| 2021 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 9.5 | |||||||||
| Other EU | 2019 | 81.9 | 80.3 | 93.0 | 110.9 | 131.2 | 151.6 | 164.2 | 150.5 | 132.2 | 119.8 | 91.2 | 110.5 | 1,417.2 |
| 2020 | 84.5 | 84.5 | 44.1 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 4.9 | 42.1 | 53.3 | 29.5 | 19.0 | 10.0 | 19.5 | 394.5 | |
| 2021 | 12.7 | 5.5 | 8.0 | 10.4 | 36.6 | |||||||||
| Switzerland | 2019 | 17.7 | 16.9 | 19.9 | 20.1 | 22.1 | 25.2 | 26.3 | 27.7 | 23.3 | 22.0 | 14.1 | 17.1 | 252.3 |
| 2020 | 18.5 | 17.9 | 7.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 54.6 | |
| 2021 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 2.4 | |||||||||
| Other Europe | 2019 | 13.6 | 14.2 | 17.1 | 17.5 | 20.5 | 24.2 | 25.3 | 23.8 | 20.6 | 19.7 | 14.0 | 16.9 | 227.2 |
| 2020 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 8.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 4.6 | 3.7 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 50.7 | |
| 2021 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 5.1 | |||||||||
| United States | 2019 | 95.4 | 75.8 | 126.4 | 158.4 | 181.3 | 208.2 | 227.6 | 220.0 | 195.7 | 183.1 | 121.2 | 120.5 | 1,913.3 |
| 2020 | 96.4 | 79.5 | 54.6 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 4.0 | 6.9 | 5.9 | 5.2 | 4.1 | 6.3 | 267.7 | |
| 2021 | 7.2 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 15.2 | |||||||||
| Other Transatlantic | 2019 | 7.9 | 6.7 | 10.6 | 16.9 | 26.7 | 38.1 | 41.3 | 39.9 | 36.4 | 26.7 | 9.6 | 10.5 | 271.4 |
| 2020 | 8.3 | 6.7 | 7.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 27.4 | |
| 2021 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.7 | |||||||||
| United Arab Emirates | 2019 | 28.4 | 20.8 | 22.0 | 24.5 | 19.7 | 32.5 | 33.9 | 35.0 | 27.6 | 30.2 | 23.0 | 29.4 | 327.0 |
| 2020 | 29.9 | 22.7 | 13.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 5.2 | 81.7 | |
| 2021 | 4.6 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 10.0 | |||||||||
| Other Routes | 2019 | 20.8 | 16.3 | 18.3 | 23.8 | 28.1 | 32.6 | 39.6 | 36.9 | 28.8 | 28.5 | 15.3 | 18.4 | 307.3 |
| 2020 | 17.4 | 13.7 | 8.4 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 4.5 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.2 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 71.6 | |
| 2021 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 4.9 | 3.2 | 15.9 | |||||||||
| All | 2019 | 1,221.6 | 1,181.1 | 1,436.6 | 1,736.4 | 1,851.6 | 2,081.0 | 2,183.9 | 2,191.9 | 1,869.3 | 1,739.9 | 1,328.4 | 1,383.8 | 20,205.3 |
| 2020 | 1,239.8 | 1,203.3 | 602.1 | 17.8 | 36.3 | 73.9 | 275.4 | 328.2 | 236.7 | 163.3 | 96.8 | 178.8 | 4,452.6 | |
| 2021 | 118.7 | 53.2 | 66.5 | 73.0 | 311.4 | |||||||||
Monthly.
Overseas Travel.
This release covers overseas travel into and out of the Republic of Ireland. Cross-border travel and domestic travel within the Republic of Ireland are excluded.
This release is based on administrative data provided by Irish airports and passenger data provided by the sea carrier companies operating ferries to and from Ireland.
Individual figures have been rounded independently and the sum of the component items may therefore not necessarily add to the totals shown.
As the statistics in this release are reproduced directly from administrative data they are considered reliable.
As the statistics in this release are persons arriving and departing, they are not directly comparable with the previous Overseas Travel release, which reported the number of overseas trips. In addition, the previous Overseas Travel series specifically excluded residents of Northern Ireland. No country of residence information is available for the compilation of these Air and Sea Travel statistics, so all countries of residence are necessarily included.
The statistics in this release are not fully coherent with separate Transport aviation and maritime statistical series published by the CSO. The Air and Sea Travel statistics exclude domestic air travel and flights to Northern Ireland. The Air and Sea Travel statistics also exclude commercial drivers on sea routes.
Arrivals are all people disembarking at the airports in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Knock, Shannon or Waterford or the seaports in Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, Ringaskiddy or Rosslare from destinations not on the island of Ireland. Transfer passengers are included while domestic air passengers and cruise passengers are excluded.
The same definition is used for departures, but refers to people embarking for destinations not on the island of Ireland.
Mode refers to the method of travel – air or sea. Air refers to all people who arrive or depart by commercial airliners (excluding the crew), while sea covers arrivals or departures by commercial passenger vessels, (excluding the crew and commercial drivers).
For convenience, all people arriving or departing overseas are allocated to one of four entry or exit routes. These are cross-channel (Great Britain, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands), continental (other European countries), Transatlantic (North & South America, including the Caribbean) and Other (Asia, Africa, Oceania, etc.).
All routes are broken down into separate countries and country groupings. These refer to the country of departure for the flight or sea crossing for an arriving person, or the country of arrival for a person who departs. The country does not refer to the country of residence or country of origin or destination for the person travelling. (This information was previously published in the ‘Overseas Travel’ releases.) For example, a person who flies from John F Kennedy airport (United States of America) to Heathrow (Great Britain) and then to Ireland will be counted as arriving from Great Britain, as this is where their flight to Ireland originated.
Transfer passengers or 'connecting passengers' are defined as those who make a stop at an airport without any particular purpose other than being en route to another destination. Transfer passengers disembark from their aircraft and pass through the airport en route to their connecting flight. The two flights must be booked on the same ticket for it to be considered a transfer. A transfer trip is a completed journey – for example a passenger who travels from London Gatwick to Dublin Airport and then on to New York (on the one ticket) is counted as two transfer passengers and one transfer trip.
| Dublin Transfer Passengers (000's) | ||||||||||
| Month | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Jan | 20 | 28 | 31 | 35 | 55 | 79 | 88 | 108 | 111 | 5 |
| Feb | 15 | 19 | 18 | 22 | 33 | 59 | 67 | 76 | 79 | 4 |
| Mar | 18 | 20 | 25 | 30 | 51 | 85 | 94 | 126 | 53 | 2 |
| Apr | 31 | 38 | 57 | 66 | 86 | 130 | 157 | 171 | 0 | 3 |
| May | 39 | 54 | 75 | 89 | 105 | 144 | 161 | 179 | 1 | |
| Jun | 51 | 72 | 96 | 110 | 119 | 157 | 185 | 186 | 3 | |
| Jul | 43 | 66 | 96 | 127 | 121 | 158 | 199 | 195 | 9 | |
| Aug | 47 | 82 | 109 | 142 | 139 | 194 | 229 | 223 | 13 | |
| Sep | 34 | 50 | 78 | 102 | 124 | 158 | 191 | 194 | 11 | |
| Oct | 33 | 46 | 72 | 91 | 142 | 160 | 187 | 186 | 7 | |
| Nov | 34 | 33 | 42 | 61 | 84 | 118 | 136 | 141 | 4 | |
| Dec | 37 | 41 | 51 | 74 | 107 | 128 | 155 | 155 | 7 | |
| Year | 402 | 548 | 749 | 949 | 1,167 | 1,569 | 1,850 | 1,939 | 297 | |
| Source: daa | ||||||||||
There were 3,000 transfer passengers handled by Dublin Airport in April 2021. Whereas in April 2020, there was no significant transfer activity reported at the airport.
Hide Background Notes
Scan the QR code below to view this release online or go to
http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/ast/airandseatravelstatisticsapril2021/
Show Table 1A Overseas arrivals by year, month and mode
Hide Table 1A Overseas arrivals by year, month and mode