Air travel recovery continues but passenger numbers still below pre-Covid levels

More than 1,633,800 air and sea passengers arrived in Ireland from overseas in October, an increase of 76.5 per cent from October 2021 when Covid-19 public health and travel restrictions remained in place, Central Statistics Office (CSO) data indicates.

But while the recovery in overseas travel that has gathered pace throughout 2022 continued last month, the October figures were still 5.5 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels in October 2019.

Of the more than 1.6 million passengers who arrived in Ireland last month, 95.3 per cent travelled by air while 4.7 per cent arrived by boat. This means that the proportion of people travelling by air and sea has returned to pre-pandemic levels, the CSO said.

The additional passengers bring to more than 14.6 million the number of travellers who have arrived in Irish airports and ferry ports so far this year, nearly three times the total for 2021 when there were just 3.5 million passenger arrivals.

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By comparison, in the 10 months to the end of October 2019, before the pandemic struck, there were 17.4 million inward journeys to Ireland by air and sea, meaning arrivals are still 16 per cent lower than pre-Covid levels for the year so far.

“These passengers, comprising foreign visitors arriving in Ireland and Irish overseas travellers returning home, represent a very substantial increase on October 2021, when 925,500 passengers arrived on overseas routes,” said Gregg Patrick, a statistician at the CSO.

“The increase is even more substantial when compared with October 2020 when just 160,900 passengers arrived on these routes.”

Britain remained the most important departure country for overseas travel to Ireland, with 552,600 passengers arriving (33 per cent of the total) on air and sea routes from our nearest neighbour, compared to just 314,200 in October 2021, Mr Patrick said.

Meanwhile, some 198,600 passengers (12 per cent) arrived in Ireland on transatlantic routes, compared with 209,800 in October 2019, a decline of five per cent.

Earlier this week, the Irish Hotels Federation warned that hoteliers and guest house owners have reported a decline in forward bookings for 2023 as the industry braces for the impact of rising costs and weaker demand.

A survey of IHF members indicated that confidence levels within the sector were declining despite a sharp uptick in tourism this year as the remaining Covid-related public health restrictions were lifted.

The IHF said that overall tourism levels were expected to be down 25 per cent this year compared with 2019, with room occupancy levels yet to recover from the shock of Covid-19 restrictions.

The average national room occupancy rate for the 10 months to the end of October was 71 per cent, the IHF said, compared with 80 per cent over the same period in 2019, before the initial outbreak of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the average occupancy level in Dublin was 75 per cent, down from 84 per cent in 2019.

Looking ahead, hoteliers and guest house owners also reported a decline in forward bookings for 2023 compared with 2019, with 60 per cent of survey respondents noting a decline in bookings from Britain, 47 per cent from Northern Ireland and 38 per cent indicating a decline in forward bookings by European tourists.