Dublin Airport passengers rose 14 per cent in 2021 compared to 2020, as the majority of air travel took place in a four-month window of the year following the widespread rollout of Covid vaccines.
However, passengers passing through the airport remained down 74 per cent when compared to pre-Covid levels in 2019.
8.46 million passengers passed through the airport in 2021, with two thirds doing so in the months of August, September, October and November – equating to 5.6 million passengers.
In total, 8.3 million passengers either started or ended their journey through Dublin Airport while 155,000 of the overall number used the airport as a transfer hub last year.
Short-haul traffic increased by 17 per cent to 7.5 million when compared to 2020 figures, although the number remains a decrease of 73 per cent on 2019.
Long-haul passenger numbers meanwhile decreased by one per cent to almost one million, a decrease of 83 per cent when compared to with pre-Covid passengers.
Destinations
Passenger numbers to and from continental Europe rose by a third compared to 2020 levels to 5.3 million, although numbers remained down 69 per cent on pre-Covid levels in 2019.
The number of passengers travelling to and from Dublin Airport and Britain decreased by 10 per cent on 2020, and was down 79 per cent on pre-Covid levels.
Transatlantic traffic increased by five per cent in 2021 compared to 2020.
Passenger numbers on flights to and from other international destinations, including flights to the Middle East, declined by 21 per cent compared with 2020, and were down 81 per cent on pre-Covid levels.
The number of people taking domestic flights increased 13 per cent in 2021, but remained down 63 per cent when compared with 2019.
