Passenger numbers at Ireland’s airports have surged 45% since 2012, according to figures contained in a report released by the Oireachtas.
The report reveals that Ireland’s airports contribute €10.2 billion to the economy and have seen passenger numbers grow by almost 50% since 2012.
In Dublin, numbers have grown 54% to 29.4 million and had its busiest year in its 78-year history last year.The report said that 85.5% of all passengers come through Dublin airport and it is the 19th most connected airport in Europe.
In Cork, passengers numbers fell 1.4% to 2.3m since 2012. Cork accounts for 6.7% of passengers and provides a €727 million economic impact to the economy.
From a West of Ireland perspective however, figures from both Knock and Shannon airports continue to show positive growth. Knock enjoyed its strongest year in 2017, with passenger numbers up to 0.75m – a rise of 10.5% since 2012.
With 100% of its traffic in the short haul category, Britain and the EU continue to be the main markets behind the success of Knock airport’s 2017 results – with 99% serving the EU. And when broken down, figures show Britain accounting for 85% of both inbound and outbound flights, followed by Portugal (5%) and Spain (4.5%)
Britain continues to be the strongest market for Knock airport with high volume numbers servicing the three London airports – Stansted, Luton and Gatwick. Liverpool and East Midlands also featured strongly.
Unsurprisngly, the three main carriers are Ryanair (74%) Aer Lingus (14%) and Flybe (12%) serving 15 destinations.
Employment at Knock airport accounts for 1,400 people with 275 of these directly employed with the economic impact in the West worth €150m.
In Shannon, passenger numbers grew 24% to 1.6m from 75% short haul flights and 25% long haul flights.
Total employment at all Irish airports stands at 143,745 people and the figures released by the Oireachtas also show that 267 routes are served by the airports overall.
You can find further details from the report here.
