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The Irish Aviation Authority's (IAA) traffic figures for January 2012 indicate that total flights in Irish airspace have declined by 5.8%, when compared to January 2011. There was an average of 1,201 daily flights during January 2012, with the busiest day being the 31^st of January with 1,333 flights in Irish airspace.

There was a decline of 5% in Ireland's en-route traffic movements (flights which do not land in Ireland) during January 2012, in comparison to January 2011. The IAA's analysis of North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe /US Flights) also saw a decline of 3.0% in January 2012, when compared to January 2011.

In relation to international arrivals and departures, the commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports decreased by 5% in January 2012, when compared to January 2011. Individually, the January 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 4.2%, with an average of 361 daily commercial movements at Dublin.
• Commercial terminal flights at Cork were down 12.3%, with an average of 50 commercial daily movements at Cork.
• Commercial terminal flights at Shannon were down 2%, with an average of 41 commercial daily movements at Shannon.

Analysis of the January 2012 data from EUROCONTROL shows that all of Ireland's Top Ten Airport Pairs (from a billing perspective) showed growth, when compared to January 2011. The most significant were London Heathrow - Boston (+13.6%) and  Manchester - Dublin (+10.3%).

The IAA's monthly analysis of delays from Air Traffic Flow Regulations indicates there have been no delays recorded during January 2012.  Ireland traditionally has one of the lowest levels of en-route and airport delays due to Air Traffic Flow Regulation in Europe and the IAA continues to proactively manage these delays to ensure they remain at a low level.

The forecast for 2012 sees a continuation of the trends of 2011, with an expected slowing of economies. Aviation shall join the EU Emission Trading Scheme in 2012. The estimated effect is a limited reduction in demand of around 0.3% overall in Europe. At the same time, there are a number of events in 2012 factored into the forecast, which will temporarily boost local traffic in some States. These are the London Olympics, the European football championship in Poland and Ukraine, and Croatia and Iceland joining the EU.