Media

In June, the IAA saw an increase of 4.4% in the volume of North Atlantic Communications flights between Europe and North America. For the first time, the volume of these flights exceeded the previous peak experienced by the IAA in 2008, reflecting the global upturn for the aviation industry.

Eamonn Brennan, Chief Executive, Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said: ‘Irish air traffic growth continues to gain pace in 2014. In June, the number of North Atlantic Communications flights we safely handled was higher than the previous peak we experienced back in 2008 so that’s very encouraging.  Shannon and Dublin have experienced strong increases in traffic volumes, mainly due to new services operating to and from these airports from airlines such as Ryanair, WestJet, Air Canada Rouge and BA. It is also very encouraging to see robust growth in our en route air traffic. Irish airspace forms the crucial gateway between Europe and North America and the increase in this traffic is greatly reflective of the continuing global upturn’.

Total flights in Irish airspace in June increased by a robust 7.6%, when compared to the same month last year, including an increase of 10.7% in Ireland’s en route traffic movements (flights that pass through Irish airspace but do not land).
There was an average of 1,759 daily flights during June 2014. The busiest day was 24th June with 1,955 flights in Irish airspace.

There were 30,575 en route traffic movements and 40,515 North Atlantic Communications flights during June 2014. On a cumulative basis, the change in en route traffic movements and North Atlantic Communications flights for the period January-June 2014, compared to the same period last year, was -1% and 3.6% respectively.

International arrivals and departures at the three State airports saw strong growth of 4.3%, including an impressive 24% increase at Shannon and a 3.6% increase at Dublin.

Recent analysis by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) further points to global industry growth. In their Airlines Financial Monitor for June 2014, IATA said that ‘air travel markets continue to expand strongly… [and that] this is consistent with a rise in world trade volumes and business confidence’.
Individually, the figures for the three State airports, when compared to the same month in the previous year are:

• Dublin up 3.6% with an average of 524 daily commercial movements.
• Cork down 8.7% with an average of 63 daily commercial movements.
• Shannon up 24% with an average of 79 daily commercial movements.

On a cumulative basis, commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports for the period January to June 2014 was up by 6.1% when compared to the same period in 2013.

Click here for more detailed statistics.

For more information, contact:

Tony Lane,

Communications Executive

Tel: +353 86 791 1864