Overseas travel has continued to rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic but is still 14 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels, new figures show.
The latest release from the Central Statistics Office shows that more than 1.47 million passengers arrived in the State from overseas routes last month, compared with 1.71 million passengers in April 2019.
In contrast, 69,400 overseas passengers arrived in the Republic in April 2021 and just 16,100 overseas passengers arrived in April 2020.
Last month more than 1.37 million passengers arrived by air and 99,500 by sea. More arrivals came via Great Britain (548,300) than via any other country.
Commenting on the release, CSO statistician Gregg Patrick said: "The Air and Sea Travel Statistics for April 2022 continue to show a strong rebound in overseas travel as Covid-19 concerns recede."
He added: "The recovery is seen in both modes of travel (air and sea), although the recovery in air travel is most dramatic (with a twenty-one-fold increase compared to April 2021). The recovery is also spread across all major routes, with transatlantic traffic up most in relative terms (with 37 transatlantic passengers arriving in April 2022 for every one in April 2021)."
The new figures come amid chaotic scenes at Dublin Airport at the weekend which saw more than 1,000 passengers miss flights due to lengthy queues.
Airport operator daa said the queues were due to a lack of security staff, leaving travellers stranded waiting outside and inside both terminal buildings.
The operator has previously said it is trying to rebound from the impact of the pandemic and has blamed shortages in fully trained staff working at the country’s busiest airport.
