Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 May 2023
102. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Transport the number of people traveling to the UK from Ireland by air and by sea on an annual basis in 2020, 2021 and 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20626/23]
View answerAccording to CSO Aviation Statistics, the following figures show the number of passengers travelling from Ireland to the UK through the 5 main Irish airports by year (Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Kerry, Knock).
|
Year |
Air Passengers |
|
2020 |
1,553,200 |
|
2021 |
1,359,500 |
|
2022 |
5,134,000 |
These aviation statistics are compiled from data supplied by all Irish airports and include scheduled and non-scheduled flights. The term 'scheduled' refers to a commercial air service operated according to a published timetable, or with such a regular frequency that it constitutes an easily recognisable systematic series of flights, while the term 'non-scheduled' refers to a commercial air service other than scheduled air service (e.g., chartered or private aircraft flights).
A main airport is defined as an airport through which in excess of 150,000 passengers fly per annum.
Separate CSO statistics show annual air and sea travel from Ireland to Great Britain statistics as follows.
|
Year |
Air & Sea Passengers |
|
2020 |
1,855,000 |
|
2021 |
1,756,200 |
|
2022 |
5,990,500 |
These air and sea travel statistics are compiled primarily from data provided by the DAA (Cork and Dublin airports), together with data from other airports and sea ferry operators and, in the case of departures, refer to all people embarking at the airports in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Knock, Shannon or Waterford or the seaports in Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, Ringaskiddy or Rosslare for destinations not on the island of Ireland. Transfer passengers are included while domestic air passengers and cruise passengers are excluded. Furthermore, statistics also exclude airline and vessel crew, domestic air travel, flights to Northern Ireland, and commercial drivers on sea routes.
The statistics in these two releases are not fully aligned. The differences in passenger numbers which are typically less than 0.5%, arise because the Air and Sea Travel statistics exclude transit passengers, domestic air travel, flights to Northern Ireland, and commercial drivers on sea routes.
Thus, the following figures could be inferred.
|
Year |
Air Passengers |
Sea Passengers |
|
2020 |
1,553,200 |
301,800 |
|
2021 |
1,359,500 |
396,700 |
|
2022 |
5,133,800 |
856,700 |
