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

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

A majority of the passengers travelled to Ireland by air – 1,377,100 – while just 99,500 came 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 that there has been a “strong rebound” in overseas travel since the pandemic, but that it remains below pre-pandemic levels

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

Data from the CSO also reveals that 1,493,600 people departed from Ireland in April across both air and sea routes.

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

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

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

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With the return to normal levels of international travel following the pandemic, as of 2021, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) agreed that airlines must offset the growth of their CO2 emissions.

Under the agreement, airlines are now required to monitor their emissions on international routes and to offset any emissions generated by their flights by purchasing “eligible emission units generated by projects that reduce emissions in other sectors”, like renewable energy projects.

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