Over nine million passengers passed through Irish airports in the first three months of 2026

In the first three months of 2026, 9.1 million passengers passed through Ireland’s five main airports, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

These latest figures show an 11% increase 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 the same period of 2025.

Ireland’s largest airport, Dublin, handled 84% of all flights, followed by Cork, which handled 7%.

When it came to travel destinations, London-Heathrow, Amsterdam-Schiphol and Manchester were the most popular routes for passengers travelling from Dublin. The most popular destination for people travelling from Cork and Shannon was London-Heathrow, while the top route for Knock and Kerry was London-Luton.

In terms of air freight handled by irish airports, this rose by 15|% when compared with the same period in 2025, this was a rise of over 7 thousand tonnes.

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 passengers more than in 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.

“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.”