SANTA Claus landed safely at Dublin Airport from the North Pole shortly after midnight this Christmas.
Airport chiefs welcomed the men in red and all of his trusted elves who visited approximately 800 million homes across 195 countries on Christmas Day.
Santa began his journey across the globe at around 9am on Christmas Eve in the South Pacific, moving on to New Zealand, Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, Central America and South America.
He was alongside his trusty reindeer Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and of course red, nosed leader Rudolph.
The Irish Aviation Authority has said that airspace was cleared so that the jolly figure’s could land safely at Dublin Airport anytime after 6pm last night.
Santa arrived at Dublin Airport at around 00.10am with “perfect” weather conditions and mild temperatures.
Dublin Airport bosses took to social media to update the children of Ireland on Santa, Rudolph arrival on Christmas Eve last night.
They wrote: “Santa Update Great news. Dublin Airport is ready to welcome Santa, Rudolph and all of the lads tonight.
“The last flight to use our runway later will be an Aer Lingus arrival from Tenerife – due just before 11pm – and after that the airspace will be free for Santa.
“The latest update from Air Traffic Control is that weather conditions are perfect with light winds and mild temperatures.
“Perfect sleigh flying weather, which should make for a smooth landing! Now, kids… get to bed!”
The North American Aerospace Defense Command has given updates on the jolly figure’s journey across the globe.
NORAD said Santa got back to the North Pole shortly after 5am after delivering 8,186,671,107 Christmas presents.
How does Santa manage to cross the world in just one night?
According to NORAD, the “only logical conclusion” as to how Santa is able to traverse the globe in one night is that he “somehow functions within his own time-space continuum”.
“NORAD intelligence reports indicate that Santa does not experience time the way we do. His trip seems to take 24 hours to us, but to Santa, it might last days, weeks, or even months,” the agency stated.
NORAD began tracking Santa in 1955, when a child accidentally rang a Colorado military command asking to speak to Father Christmas.
Luckily, on-duty officer Harry Shoup, who took the call, played up the part and confirmed he was indeed Santa Claus.
As more calls came in that night, Shoup assigned a duty officer to continue answering the phone, starting the tradition.
The duty was passed over to NORAD who carried it on when it was formed in 1958.
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