The first three months of 2026 saw the highest ever number of airport passengers for this period of the year, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).Up to 9.1 million passengers passed through the five main Irish airports in the first quarter of the year, an 11 per cent increase on the same period in 2025. Over 850,000 more passengers travelled through Irish airports in the first quarter of 2026. The previous record for passengers to and from Ireland was in 2024, which saw 8.23 million people passing through Irish airports in the first three months of that year.The number of flights to and from Irish airports also rose by a similar margin of 12 per cent, climbing from 57,940 flights in the first few months of 2025 to 64,656 in 2026. Most of this footfall was channelled through Dublin airport, which handled 84 per cent of all flights. They were followed by Cork airport, which oversaw seven per cent of total flights. 2026 is likely to see continued increases in airport passenger numbers, with Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien noting on Tuesday that he had secured approval to publish and enact the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill as soon as possible. Will a Middle East peace deal make any difference to inflation? Listen | 32:03The new bill would remove the annual passenger cap on Dublin Airport, which currently limits the airport to 32 million passengers a year. London-Heathrow was the most popular destination for Irish passengers and was the number one route for those travelling from Dublin, Cork and Shannon airport. London was also the route of choice for those travelling from Knock and Kerry airports, which experienced the most traffic for London-Luton. Amsterdam-Schipol and Manchester were the next most popular routes in Dublin airport. In Ireland’s smallest main airport, Kerry recorded Dublin as the second most popular route for its passengers, seeing 29, 677 individuals coming to and from the state’s capital. “In Q1 2026, almost nine out of every ten passengers (88%) on international flights in the five main airports were travelling to or from Europe,” said Damien Lenihan, statistician in the transport section of the CSO.“The two most popular countries of origin/destination were the United Kingdom and Spain. Outside of Europe, the United States of America was the most popular country of origin/destination in Q1 2026,” he added.The quantity of luggage on Irish flights also noted an increase – “The amount of air freight handled by the main airports rose by 15 per cent to 50,265 tonnes in the first three months of 2026 when compared with the same period in 2025,” Lenihan said.