‘Strong uptick’ in international travel as over 1.4m people arrive in Ireland in April

MORE THAN 1.4 MILLION passengers arrived in Ireland in April, with more people arriving from Britain than any other country according to new CSO data.

According to the CSO, more than 1,476,600 passengers arrived in Ireland from abroad in April. This is a 21-fold increase on April 2021, where only 69,400 passengers arrived in Ireland.

The majority of passengers traveled to Ireland by air (1,377,100), while only 99,500 arrived by sea.

The highest proportion of all arrivals came from Great Britain, with 548,300 people arriving compared to any other country.

Commenting on the figures, CSO statistician Gregg Patrick says there has been a “strong uptick” in foreign travel since the pandemic, but that it remains below pre-pandemic levels.

“Foreign travel remains significantly lower (14%) than pre-pandemic levels. In April 2019 there were 1,712,900 arrivals from abroad,” said Patrick.

The CSO data also reveals that 1,493,600 people left Ireland in April via air and sea routes.

A large majority of people traveled by air, with approximately 1,395,100 passengers passing through Irish airports.

The latest figures come as Dublin Airport has become mired in controversy over extreme delays faced by passengers, who were forced to wait in long queues over the weekend.

Dublin airport operator DAA said it estimated more than 1,000 people missed flights over the weekend due to long queues, adding they had “let the nation down”.

With the return to normal levels of international travel after the pandemic, starting in 2021, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has agreed that airlines must offset the growth in their CO2 emissions.

Under the deal, airlines must now monitor their emissions on international routes and offset emissions generated by their flights by purchasing “eligible emission units generated by projects that reduce emissions in other sectors,” such as renewable energy projects.

Between 2021 and 2035, this scheme is estimated to offset around 80% of emissions above 2020 levels, and all EU countries are part of the scheme.