Strong Growth in Dublin London Air Traffic
As a sign of the continued upward trend in Irish air traffic, the Dublin – London route has experienced strong growth over the last twelve months. In an analysis conducted by EUROCONTROL of Ireland’s Top Ten Airport pairs, traffic on the Dublin – London Heathrow route has increased by 12.7% when compared to last year. The average daily number of aircraft movements between the two airports was 36.6.
In total, six of Ireland’s Top Ten airport pairs showed growth when compared to 2011. The most significant of these were London/Heathrow – Chicago O’Hare International (+11.30%) and New York - London/Heathrow (+9.60%). The Irish Aviation Authority bills its airline customers for using its air traffic management services when transiting through Irish controlled airspace.
Traffic figures for November 2012 indicate that total flights in Irish airspace have increased by 0.80%, when compared to November 2011. There was an average of 1,249 daily flights during November 2012, with the busiest day being 4th November with 1,453 flights in Irish airspace.
In relation to international arrivals and departures, the commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports increased significantly by +4.2% in November 2012, when compared to November 2011.
This growth in international arrivals and departures was largely driven by traffic increases in Dublin and Cork. This is the fourth month in a row of continued growth in this sector of traffic, which is primarily being driven by a significant rise in international arrivals and departures at Dublin airport.
Individually, the November 2012 figures for the three State airports, when compared to the same month in the previous year are:
- Dublin up 5.2%, with an average of 385 daily movements.
- Cork up 5.5%, with an average of 51 daily movements.
- Shannon down 4.9%, with an average of 43 daily movements.
On a cumulative basis, commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports for January to November 2012 was up by 0.2% compared to the same period in 2011.
There was a decrease of 1.60% in Ireland’s en-route traffic movements (flights that pass through Irish airspace but do not land) during November 2012, in comparison to November 2011. Similarly, North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe – North America) saw a decrease of 2.47% in November 2012, when compared to November 2011.
On a cumulative basis, the growth in en-route traffic movements and North Atlantic Communications flights for January to November 2012, compared to the same period last year, was +0.07% and -0.86%, respectively.
ENDS
For further information contact:
Tony Lane, Assistant Communications Officer, IAA
Tel: 01 603 1199 / 086 791 1864