Media

12 September 2011: The IAA monthly analysis indicates that the total number of flights in Irish airspace decreased by 0.4% during August 2011, when compared with August 2010. However, our analysis also indicates that 2011 to date has also registered the lowest number of flight delays in recent memory at Irish airports..

There were 1,569 daily flights on average during August 2011 and the busiest day in the month was Friday, 26th with 1,772 flights in Irish airspace.

The small decrease in volumes is due to a drop in internal Irish traffic and a reduced level of growth in international arrivals, departures and overflights.

There was growth of 1.6% in Ireland's en route traffic, (flights that don't land in Ireland), in comparison to August 2010.

North Atlantic Communications flights between Europe and the USA rose by 1.9%, with international arrivals and departures for commercial terminal traffic at Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports dropping by 3.5% in August 2011.

Hurricane Irene, which hit the East coast of America on the 28th August 2011, had minimal effect on traffic.

On a cumulative basis, growth in en route traffic movements and North Atlantic Communications flights between January 2011 and August 2011 was 6.6% and 6.2% respectively.

However, when this growth is adjusted to take into account the disruption caused by the Icelandic volcanic ash crisis in 2010, the comparable growth for those eight months is adjusted downward to 1.7% and 1.3% respectively.

Ireland continues to have one of the lowest levels of delays in Europe. Delays were the lowest observed by the IAA in recent memory with only 204 aircraft delayed by a total of 3,478 minutes between January 2011 and August 2011. Of these, 124 aircraft were delayed by 2,589 minutes caused by special events such as the US Presidential visit to Ireland and the Europa League final in May 2011. A further 41 other aircraft were delayed by 497 minutes due to the weather.  While growth in traffic figures for August 2011 is relatively low, there is reason to be optimistic as the overall trend for 2011 is expected to grow in Ireland by 3.5%, according to Eurocontrol's most recent STATFOR forecast.

ENDS

Statistics

Individually, the August 2011 figures for the three State airports, when compared to the same month in the previous year indicate;

• Commercial terminal flights at Dublin were down by 4.3%, with an average of 465 daily commercial movements at the airport.
  
  Commercial terminal flights at Cork were down 4.1%, with an average of 73 commercial daily movements at that airport.
  
  Commercial terminal flights at Shannon were up 3.9%, with an average of 59 commercial daily movements at the airport.

Growth in commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports, between January 2011 and August 2011, was up by 2%. However, when this growth is adjusted for the Icelandic volcanic ash crisis in 2010, the comparable growth is adjusted downward to 1%.