PASSENGER NUMBERS AT Dublin Airport declined by 78% to 7.4 million last year due to the impact of the global Covid-19 crisis, new figures show.

More than half of those who travelled through Dublin Airport last year did so in January and February, as passenger numbers increased by 2% to 4.1 million passengers in the first two months of the year. 

Between March and the end of December, passenger numbers fell by 89% to 3.3 million.

In a statement today, Dublin Airport said it lost 25.5 million passengers last year. 

The last time that Dublin Airport had fewer than 8 million passengers in a calendar year was in 1994.

More than 400,000 passengers used Dublin as a hub during the year, which meant that just under seven million people either began or ended their journey at Dublin Airport during 2020.

Passenger numbers at Dublin Airport have fallen further since the end of last year, with January passenger numbers down by 90%. Daily passenger traffic is currently down by up to 98% compared to the same period in 2020.

Passenger numbers to and from continental Europe declined by 77% to four million last year.

The number of passengers travelling to and from Dublin Airport and Britain was 76% lower at 2.4 million, while transatlantic traffic declined by 84% to almost 690,000 passengers.

Passenger numbers on flights to and from other international destinations, which includes flights to the Middle East, declined by 76% to almost 237,000. The number of people taking domestic flights declined by 68% to just under 34,000.

“Aviation was one of the sectors of the Irish economy that was hardest hit by Covid-19, and this is reflected in the passenger numbers for last year,” said Dublin Airport managing director Vincent Harrison.

“It was a hugely challenging year for Dublin Airport and for the entire Irish aviation sector, as the reduction in air travel and the introduction of travel restrictions in most markets had a very significant impact on passenger numbers during the year.”

In 2019, Dublin Airport had flights to more than 190 destinations in 42 countries operated by almost 50 airlines. In April 2020, Dublin Airport had flights to just 22 destinations in 11 countries operated by seven airlines.