Some good news amid difficult economic conditions
14 May 2012: Irish Aviation Authority traffic figures for April 2012 show that total flights in Irish airspace have decreased by 1.2%, when compared to April 2011. This reduction is largely attributable to the continued downturn in international arrivals and departures at the three State airports.
There was some good news with an increase of 0.20% in Ireland's en-route traffic movements (flights that do not land in Ireland) in April 2012 when compared to April 2011. However, North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe /US Flights) saw a decrease of 0.16% in April 2012, when compared to the same month in 2011. On a cumulative basis the growth in en-route traffic movements and North Atlantic Communications flights for January to April 2012, compared to the same period last year, was 0.90% and 1.17% respectively.
In relation to international arrivals and departures, the commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports dropped by 4.6% in April 2012, when compared to April 2011. Individually, the April 2012 figures for the three State airports, when compared to the same month in the previous year are;
- Commercial terminal flights at Dublin were down by 0.1%, with an average of 441 daily commercial movements at Dublin.
- Commercial terminal flights at Cork were down 3.4%, with an average of 59 commercial daily movements at Cork.
- Commercial terminal flights at Shannon were down 9.8%, with an average of 48 commercial daily movements at Shannon.
On a cumulative basis commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports for January to April 2012 was down by 3.1%.
There was an average of 1,460 daily flights during April 2012, the busiest day being 2nd April with 1,652 flights in Irish airspace.
April 2012 data from EUROCONTROL shows that six of Ireland's Top ten "Airport Pairs" (from a billing perspective) showed growth, when compared to April 2011. The most significant were;
- Paris Charles de Gaulle - New York (+22.7%),
- Manchester - Dublin (+12.6%),
- London Heathrow - Boston (+12.4%).
The IAA's monthly analysis of delays from Air Traffic Flow Regulations indicates that 33 aircraft were delayed by 673 minutes between January and April 2012. All of these delays were weather related. Ireland traditionally has one of the lowest levels of en-route and airport delays in Europe and the IAA continually strives to maintain these low levels.
According to IATA's market analysis, airline industry confidence has improved slightly with respondents of their April survey (Chief Financial Officers and heads of cargo) reporting weakness in Q1 profits, but to a lesser degree than in Q4 2011. The view for the next 12 months is now also less pessimistic. There has been an improvement in passenger traffic over the last quarter, with an expectation of further growth in the year ahead. Fuel prices still remain at historically high levels and are 11% up on the start of the year. However, high load factors have allowed airlines to partially offset higher fuel costs through better yields, particularly in the US.
ENDS
For further information contact:
Lilian Cassin
Corporate Communications Manager, IAA
Tel: 061 366 226 / 087 647 4079 / lilian.cassin@iaa.ie