Passport applications plummet due to Covid-19 travel bans

Figures released to the Irish Examiner by the Department of Foreign Affairs show just 13,820 applications were received last month for new and renewed passports, which is just 13% of the 103,482 applications it had received in April of last year.

Figures for the beginning of the year were broadly in line with 2019 with 102,690 applications received in January compared with 104,330 in January 2019. February saw 92,021 applications compared to 99,777 in February 2019.

However, numbers began to fall significantly in March as travel restrictions were put in place by Governments around the globe in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus.

The Passport Office received 56,013 applications in March compared to 112,905 for the same month last year.

International travel and tourism is one of the most impacted sectors of the global economy with analysts and industry professionals predicting that it will take years to return to pre-Covid levels of travel.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the drop in passport applications in March and April is due to citizens not travelling because of Covid-19 restrictions.

The Passport Service is operating a limited service at the moment with some staff redeployed to consular services, assisting citizens abroad and to other areas including contact tracing for the HSE and Covid-19 payments for Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

Applicants can still apply for passports, including both passport renewals and first-time passports, using the online service but applications through the post are not available at present as they require extensive handling and processing by passport staff.

"Our efforts are directed towards ensuring a safe return to work for our staff as set out in the Government’s roadmap to ease Covid-19 restrictions and reopen Ireland’s economy and society," a spokesperson said.

Airlines have been announcing plans to resume limited services to various destinations over the coming weeks but accept it will be many months and even years before full services are resumed.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Dublin airport was set up to handle approximately 33 million passengers per year and 2.6 million passengers per year in Cork.

However, traffic in 2021 could be as low as about 21 million passengers at Dublin and Cork airports next year, compared to 35.5 million passengers last year.

It is estimated that it could take three to four years for air passenger numbers in Ireland to return to 2019 levels.