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The positive commercial air traffic performance at Dublin continued again in September, recording its 7^th month of consecutive growth, up 6.6% compared to the same month last year. From January to September, Dublin air traffic has now increased by 4.2% to 124,939 commercial movements compared with 119,867 for the same period in 2012.

IAA CEO, Eamonn Brennan said “This sustained growth is very encouraging news for Dublin Airport and the wider economy. September was also a good month for Shannon, up 5.5% year-on-year. There is some way to go to catch-up with previous levels during the peak years but 2013 is a step in the right direction. In Dublin, the IAA is handling this growth phase both safely and cost effectively through our innovative and award winning airspace management technique known as Point Merge”.

On a cumulative basis, commercial terminal traffic for Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports for January to September 2013 was up by +2.7%, compared to the same period in 2012. Individually, the September 2013 figures for commercial terminal flights at the three State airports are:

• Dublin up 6.6% with an average of 498 daily movements.
• Cork down by 5.2%, with an average of 62 daily movements.
• Shannon up by 5.5%, with an average of 60 daily movements.

Total flights in Irish airspace increased by 0.8% when compared to September 2012, with the busiest day being 6^th September with 1,557 flights in Irish airspace.

North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe / North America) saw an increase of 2.4% in September to 35,971 flights. However, there was a small decrease of 0.8% in Ireland’s en-route traffic movements (flights that pass through Irish airspace but do not land) to 26,300 movements during the same month.  

On a cumulative basis, the year-on-year change in North Atlantic Communications flights and en-route traffic movements for January to September 2013 was +0.12% and -1.90 % respectively.

With regard to Air Traffic Flow Regulation delays in Europe, Ireland has traditionally one of the lowest levels of en-route and airport delays as the IAA proactively manages delays to ensure they remain at a low level. From January to September 2013, the IAA’s monthly analysis of delays from Air Traffic Flow Regulations, indicates that of the 302 delayed aircraft, 99.3% of these delays were weather related. 

Finally, an analysis of the September 2013 data, from EUROCONTROL, also shows that seven of Ireland’s Top ten “Airport Pairs” (from a billing perspective) showed growth (or neutral growth), when compared to September 2012. The most significant growth was for Edinburgh – Dublin (+21.40%), Manchester – Dublin (+19.00%), London/Stansted – Dublin (+16.90%) and London/Gatwick – Dublin (+15.30%).

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