Traffic at Irish Airports Improving
Commercial terminal traffic at the three State airports of Cork, Dublin Shannon increased by 2.1% in May 2013, when compared to May 2012. Individually, the May 2013 figures for the three airports, when compared to the same month in the previous year are:
- Commercial terminal flights at Dublin up 4.2%, with an average of 477 daily movements.
- Commercial terminal flights at Cork up 5.4%, with an average of 61 daily movements.
- Commercial terminal flights at Shannon down 6.3%, with an average of 54 daily movements.
On a cumulative basis, commercial terminal traffic for Cork, Dublin Shannon for January to May 2013 was up by 0.7%, compared to the same period in 2012.
The IAA’s traffic figures for May 2013 indicate that total flights in Irish airspace have decreased by 0.2% when compared to May 2012. There was an average of 1,546 daily flights during May 2013, with the busiest day being 17th May with 1,687 flights in Irish airspace.
There was a decrease of 0.7% in Ireland’s en-route traffic movements (flights that pass through Irish airspace but do not land) during May 2013, in comparison to May 2012. However, North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe /North America) saw an increase of 1.4% in May 2013, when compared to May 2012.
Further positive indicators for growth in traffic at Irish airports can be seen in data from EUROCONTROL for May 2013 which shows that eight of Ireland’s top ten ‘Airport Pairs’ (from a billing perspective) showed growth (or neutral growth), when compared to May 2012.
The most significant growth was for London Gatwick – Dublin (9.7%), London Heathrow – Dublin (8.9%), London Stansted – Dublin (4.4%) and Edinburgh – Dublin (4.3%).
In relation to Ireland’s major departing and arriving air traffic flows during May 2013, the following data from EUROCONTROL indicates that there was growth or neutral growth on 68% of both outbound and inbound flows, when compared to May 2012.
In the global context, IATA noted in May that airline share prices had risen 15% so far this year, outperforming world equity markets as expectations improve. Q1 financial results show operating profits are continuing to improve across most regions. Jet fuel prices have remained unchanged at $115/b in May as oil supply expectations are keeping prices at the low end of the two year range. Passenger travel continues to expand close to trend in April but air freight volumes show no signs of growth. They also noted that the business confidence trend has flattened in 2013 but current levels are consistent with rising travel/freight demand. Passenger capacity is expanding as fleet are brought out of storage, but is still broadly in line with demand growth. Passenger load factors also remain high and are close to record levels.
View traffic statistics in full
For more information contact:
Tony Lane
Tel: +353 1 603 1199 / Mob: +353 86 7911864
Email: tony.lane@iaa.ie