Dublin Airport has released its traffic figures for 2021 which reveal that passenger numbers at the Airport increased by 14% to 8.46 million, when compared with 2020. However, 2021 passenger numbers were down by 74% when compared to numbers in 2019 as COVID-19 continued to have a massive impact on aviation globally.
Two thirds of all passengers (66%) who travelled through Dublin Airport in 2021 did so in the months of August, September, October and November which equates 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.
When compared to 2020 figures, short-haul traffic increased by 17% to 7.5 million, while long-haul passenger numbers decreased by 1% to almost one million. However, this is a decrease of -83% when compared to with pre-COVID-19 passengers for long haul and -73% for short haul in 2019.
During 2021, passenger numbers to and from Continental Europe increased on 2020 levels by 33% to 5.3 million. The number of passengers travelling to and from Dublin Airport and Britain decreased by -10% while transatlantic traffic increased by 5% compared to 2020. When compared to pre-COVID-19 numbers in 2019, traffic to and from Continental Europe was down by 69%, while passengers travelling from Dublin Airport to and from Britain was down by 79%.
Passenger numbers on flights to and from other international destinations, which includes flights to the Middle East, declined by 21% compared with 2020. The number of people taking domestic flights increased 13%. When comparing to pre-COVID-19 passenger numbers, other international destinations were down 81%, with domestic travel down by 63% when compared with 2019.
