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9 March 2012: Traffic figures for February 2012 published today by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) indicate that total flights in Irish airspace have increased by 1.9%, when compared to February 2011. There was an average of 1,249 daily flights during the month; the busiest day being 22 February with 1,375 flights in Irish airspace.                                                                       

Ireland's en-route traffic movements (flights which do not land in Ireland) increased 6.9% during February 2012, in comparison to February 2011, while the IAA's analysis of North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe /US Flights) saw an increase of 5.9% in February 2012, when compared to the same month the previous year.

On a cumulative basis; the growth in en-route traffic movements and North Atlantic Communications flights for January 2012 and February 2012 was 0.5% and 1% respectively.

In relation to international arrivals and departures, the commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports dropped by 2% in February 2012, when compared to February 2011. Individually, the February 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 1.4%, with an average of 369 daily commercial movements at Dublin.
• Commercial terminal flights at Cork were down 4%, with an average of 48 commercial daily movements at Cork.
• Commercial terminal flights at Shannon were down 5.1%, with an average of 42 commercial daily movements at Shannon.

On a cumulative basis; commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports for January 2012 and February 2012 was down by 3.6%.

An analysis of the February 2012 data from Eurocontrol shows that seven of Ireland's Top ten "Airport Pairs" (from a billing perspective) showed growth, when compared to February 2011. The most significant were London Heathrow - Chicago O Hare (+33.4%),  London Heathrow - Boston (+23.3%) and  Manchester - Dublin (+22.9%).

The IAA's monthly analysis of delays from Air Traffic Flow Regulations indicates that 33 aircraft were delayed during the first two months of this year by 673 minutes (average 20 minutes). Ireland traditionally has one of the lowest levels of en-route and airport delays due to Air Traffic Flow Regulation delays in Europe and the IAA continues to proactively manage these delays to ensure they remain at a low level.

Finally, the Eurocontrol medium-term forecast of flights (2012-2018) has been published and notes that at a European level:

• 2012 traffic growth is expected to decline by 1.3% (+/-1%) on 2011. This forecast is also largely influenced by the slow traffic recovery following the end of the Arab Spring and the poor prospects for Summer timetable flight growth,
• 2013 traffic growth is forecast to remain weak with 1.5% (+/-1%) on 2012.
• For the remainder of the period (2014-2018), traffic growth is expected to be stronger (around 3%) leading to a forecast of 11.3 million IFR flights in 2018 in Europe, 16% more than in 2011. However, the average annual growth rate over the seven years from 2012 to 2018 is weak at around 2% a year.

See Flight Statistics Monthly Review

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