Overseas travel dropped last month compared to October, figures show

The numbers were considerably higher, however, than the total for November last year.

Some 785,000 passengers departed from Ireland on overseas routes in November (Liam McBurney/PA) (PA Wire)

Overseas travel to and from Ireland decreased in November compared to the previous month, new figures have shown.

Figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Wednesday show that 785,800 passengers arrived in Ireland on overseas routes last month, down 15% on October.

In the same month, 785,000 passengers departed from Ireland on overseas routes, down 12% on the previous month.

Overseas travel in November this year was considerably higher than in November 2020, when 103,900 passengers arrived, and 96,800 passengers departed, the CSO said.

However, overseas travel remains considerably lower than pre-pandemic levels when 1,351,400 passengers arrived and 1,328,400 passengers departed in November 2019.

Statistician Gregg Patrick said: “The air and sea travel statistics for November 2021 show a decrease in overseas travel compared to the preceding month.

“In November 2021, 785,000 overseas passengers departed from Ireland, compared to 895,100 in October 2021, a decrease of 12%.

“The November 2021 statistics show that continental routes contributed most to the passenger traffic.”

Some 412,000 passengers arrived on continental routes and 397,300 passengers departed on continental routes.

This illustrates the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on international travel to and from Ireland

Gregg Patrick

By way of contrast, 313,800 passengers arrived on cross-channel routes and 322,700 passengers departed on cross-channel routes.

Just 37,300 passengers arrived on transatlantic routes and 46,700 passengers departed on these routes.

Apart from Great Britain which accounted for all cross-channel routes, the most important routing countries for overseas travel last month were Spain with 94,700 arrivals and 85,700 departures; Germany with 45,800 arrivals and 47,500 departures; and France with 43,900 arrivals and 47,900 departures.

“When we look at the year-to-date picture, the statistics show that 4,263,000 overseas passengers arrived in Ireland and 4,289,300 overseas passengers departed from Ireland,” Mr Patrick said.

“This compares to both 4.3 million arrivals and departures in the same period in 2020 and 18.8 million arrivals and departures in the same period in 2019.

“This illustrates the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on international travel to and from Ireland.”