More than 38 million passengers travelled through the State’s main airports last year, a number that appears unlikely to be replicated for the coming years.
Central Statistics Office data released on Thursday showed that the number of passengers that travelled through airports in the Republic was up 4.2 per cent on the previous year, with numbers increasing in all airports except for Shannon which saw a decline.
Dublin Airport accounted for 85.7 per cent of all air passengers carried in 2019 with more than 32.6 million passengers. Cork carrier 2.5 million, Shannon had 1.6 million, Knock carried 805,000 while Kerry had 369,000.
For passengers travelling from Dublin Airport, London-Heathrow and London-Gatwick were the most popular destinations. Flights to London were the most popular across all facilities last year.
Last year, almost nine in every 10 passengers on international flights travelled to or from Europe with the UK and Spain being the most popular countries of origin. Outside of Europe, the US was the most popular destination.