Projections show Dublin Airport to see 87% of 2019 flights take off by the end of the year.

  2022 really was the first year we dared to live as normal after the pandemic. While restrictions eased in both 2020 and 2021, giving us a taste of freedom, be that with hospitality, or travel, or simply being allowed to go beyond 2k of our homes, 2022 was the first time the restrictions were eased and not put back in place. Naturally people have been making up for lost time, and air travel has been huge again this year. Aviation analytics firm Cirium estimate that Dublin Airport will see almost as many flights take off as in pre-pandemic times. Their study shows Dublin will see 195,415 flights take off, which is 87% of 2019 flights. [caption id="attachment_146649" align="alignnone" width="1472"] Image via The PC Agency via Cirium[/caption]   In comparison, 2020 only saw 82,932 flights go through Dublin Airport, falling further to 75,583 in 2021, a stark difference to 224,360 flights in pre-pandemic 2019. Currently, Ryanair is scheduled to be the largest carrier with 87,046 flights, followed by Aer Lingus with 63,807 and then British Airways in third place with 7,177. The most popular airports these flights were landing in were London Heathrow, Amsterdam, London Gatwick, Manchester, and finally Birmingham. Header image via Shutterstock READ ON: Culture Night 2022 to offer 300 free events in Dublin