How Irish Airports Fell and Recovered, 2019 to 2025
Quick answer
Every main Irish airport lost between 78% and 83% of its passengers in 2020 and every one passed its 2019 level in 2023. By 2025 the national total was 14% above 2019, with Shannon and Cork growing fastest.
Airport traffic in Ireland collapsed in 2020 and took until 2023 to get back to where it started. These figures come from the CSO’s annual aviation tables, stitched from three series that agree where they overlap. Passenger numbers are published in thousands to one decimal place.
The drop
| Airport | 2019 | 2020 | Change | 2021 low or recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin | 32.7m | 7.3m | -78% | 8.3m |
| Cork | 2.6m | 0.5m | -80% | 0.3m |
| Shannon | 1.6m | 0.3m | -83% | 0.3m |
| Knock | 805k | 143k | -82% | 174k |
| Kerry | 370k | 83k | -78% | 115k |
| All main airports | 38.1m | 8.3m | -78% | 9.1m |
The percentage fall was similar everywhere, between 78% and 83%. Cork is the one airport that fell further in 2021 than in 2020, from 527 thousand to 255 thousand passengers, which is 10% of its 2019 total.
The recovery
All five airports were below their 2019 passenger numbers in 2022 and above them in 2023. No airport recovered earlier or later than the others.
| Airport | 2022 vs 2019 | 2025 vs 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Dublin | -15% | +11% |
| Cork | -13% | +34% |
| Shannon | -12% | +39% |
| Knock | -12% | +17% |
| Kerry | -4% | +19% |
| All main airports | -15% | +14% |
Since 2023, the regional airports have grown faster than Dublin. Shannon is 39% above 2019 and Cork 34% above, against 11% for Dublin. Dublin still handles 84% of all passengers, up slightly from 86% in 2019, so the regional growth has shaved a little off its dominance but has not changed the shape of the system.
You can see each airport’s full series on its own page: Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerry.
The longer view
Looking further back changes the picture for one airport. Shannon carried 2.96 million passengers in 2008 and 1.29 million in 2012. At 2.24 million in 2025 it is far above 2019 but still below its 2008 level, the only main airport that is. Cork (3.26 million in 2008, 3.46 million in 2025), Knock, Kerry and Dublin have all passed their 2008 numbers.
Why it matters for the leasing industry
The aircraft lessors the CSO tracks earned €22.0 billion in total income in 2020 against €24.0 billion in 2019, a fall of 8%, while airport passengers fell 78%. Lease income held up far better than traffic in 2020. For that side, see How Big Is Ireland’s Aircraft Leasing Industry? and Where Irish lessors earn their lease income.
Caveats
Annual passenger counts are in thousands and rounded to one decimal place. The most recent year is provisional and the CSO may revise it. Galway airport is not included; it appears only in the older CSO tables, which end in 2015.