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The upward trend in Irelands air traffic continued in July 2011 with a +0.4% increase on the July 2010 figures. During the month a daily average of 1,648 flights were controlled by the Irish Aviation Authority.

En-route traffic in Irish controlled airspace (flights, which do not land in Ireland) increased by +2% and North Atlantic flights (Europe /US Flights) +3.5% over comparable traffic figures for July 2010.

However, commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports dropped by -0.8% compared to July 2010. Individually, the July figures for the three State airports, when compared to the previous year are;

• Commercial terminal flights at Dublin were down by -1.1%, there was an average of 488 movements daily.
• Commercial terminal flights at Cork were down -2.4%, there was an average of 75 movements daily.
• Commercial terminal flights at Shannon were up +2.8%, there was an average of 62 movements daily.

Notwithstanding the positive traffic performance several threats to the continuing recovery of the business still exist. The economic uncertainty, as austerity measures in more European countries bite, the economic difficulties being experienced in Ireland, high jet fuel prices, etc. all pose significant challenges to the return of the business to the 2008 peak levels. 

The latest EUROCONTROL short term traffic forecasts indicate that 2011 is expected to see circa 3.2% growth in flights across Europe. 2012 is expected to be similar with growth of circa 3.1%.

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