Media

The IAA’s traffic figures for November 2013 show a surge in air traffic growth in virtually all areas compared to the same month last year, as total flights in Irish airspace increased by +2.5%, with an average of 1,283 daily flights during the month.

North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe/US Flights) saw an increase of 4.4% in November 2013, when compared to November 2012. Similarly, Ireland’s en-route traffic movements (flights, which are managed through Irish airspace but do not land in Ireland) increased by 2.6%.  90% of North Atlantic traffic uses Irish Airspace.

Good performances in recent months have reversed earlier negative trends and the IAA is now predicting that, for the full year 2013, air traffic growth in these areas will be largely flat against 2012. On a cumulative basis, the change in en-route traffic movements and North Atlantic Communications flights for January to November 2013, compared to the same period last year, was 0.90% and +0.94%, respectively.

In relation to international arrivals and departures, the commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports was up by +4.3% in November 2013 (2.9% for the full year from January to November). This is driven by the continued strong performance at Dublin Airport, which rose by just over 6.0% in November (4.4% for the full year so far).

The performance of Shannon and Cork is mixed with Shannon commercial traffic growing by 1.8% in November (down 1.7% for the full year so far) and Cork dropping by 6.6%.

Chief Executive of the IAA, Eamonn Brennan said ”2013 has been a mixed year for our airline customers. On the one hand, Dublin Airport has had a very good year with the opening of a number of new routes and we believe it will close the year up by over 4% on 2012. The position of Shannon and Cork, however, remains tough. Recently Shannon has had some positive announcements from both Ryanair and Aer Arann and in November its traffic grew by almost 2%. Conditions are improving in the domestic economy and we are confident that Irish air traffic will continue to grow in 2014.”

The IAA is encouraged by the recent strong performance by air traffic across the North Atlantic and believes that it is indicative of a sustained and continuing recovery. A recently published forecast by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that airlines expect to see a 31% increase in passenger numbers between 2012 and 2017. IATA has also revised their industry financial outlook upward.  For 2013, airlines are expected to return a global net profit of $12.9 billion. This is expected to improve to a net profit of $19.7 billion in 2014.

For more information, contact:

Tony Lane

Communications Executive

Tel: +353 1 603 1199 

Mob: +353 86 7911864