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The Latest News From the IAA

Strong Irish Air Traffic Growth in October

12 Nov 2013

As a sign of continued recovery in Irish air traffic, total flights in Irish-controlled airspace in October increased by 4.4% when compared with the same month last year. There was an average of 1,512 daily flights during October 2013, with the busiest day being 11th October with 1,718 flights.

Flights for en route traffic (flights that pass through Irish airspace but do not land) showed particularly strong growth at 6.1%. This is first month that significant growth has been recorded for en route traffic this year and would seem to be indicative of the ongoing recovery in Europe and North America. The IAA North Atlantic Communications service (Europe/North America) also saw encouragingly strong growth of 5.4%.

Total terminal traffic (flights that take off and land at the three State airports of Dublin, Cork and Shannon) also experienced strong growth of 3%.

Individually, the figures for commercial terminal traffic for the three State airports for October are as follows:

  • Dublin up 4.3% with an average of 466 daily movements.
  • Cork down 5.4%, with an average of 56 daily movements.
  • Shannon up 1.5% with an average of 51 daily movements.

On a cumulative basis, commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports for January to October 2013 was up by 2.7%, compared to the same period in 2012. 

Recent data supplied by EUROCONTROL shows that that nine of Ireland’s top ten ‘Airport Pairs’ in October showed growth (or neutral growth), when compared to October 2012. The most significant growth was for Manchester – Dublin (18.4%), London/Heathrow – Chicago O’Hare (12.2%), Paris Charles de Gaulle – New York (11.8%) and London/Stansted – Dublin (11.5%).

IAA Chief Executive, Eamonn Brennan said: ‘The October air traffic figures are very encouraging with strong growth in en route traffic reflecting the ongoing recovery in global aviation. Dublin continues to lead the domestic recovery and has recorded its eighth consecutive month of growth’.

Click here for more detailed information on Irish air traffic statistics.


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