The number of passengers flying in and out of Shannon Airport in the third quarter of this year has almost doubled on 2020 figures.
However, traffic has only been restored to less than a quarter of pre-pandemic levels.
Between July and September of this year, over 125,000 people passed through the MidWest airport – an increase of more than 93% on the same time last year.
This increase in traffic coincided with the phased return to non-essential international travel which began on July 19th.
In the third quarter of 2020, while restrictions on travel were still in place, only 45,505 people used Shannon Airport.
Despite an almost doubling of passenger numbers in late Summer and early Autumn, the amount of people travelling to and from the airport is still less than a quarter of what was recorded pre-pandemic.
In the third quarter of 2019, over half a million passengers flew through Shannon Airport.
The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office come following an official announcement from the Department of Transport that over 10 million euro in additional funding has been approved for the regional airport.
The airport’s London routes proved to be the most popular once restrictions on travel lifted, with nearly 30,000 flying to and from Stansted and just over 11,000 to Gatwick.
Four sun destinations ranked in the top 10 for the local airport, with Faro, Malaga, Lanzarote and Alicante recording between 5,500 and 6,500 passengers to and from Shannon.
