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The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) released new figures today showing that total commercial terminal flight traffic was up 10.3% at Ireland’s three State airports in May to 22,485 flights, compared with May 2015. Cork Airport led the way with a substantial 19.6% climb in traffic. Dublin Airport also saw strong growth of 10%, with flights up from 17,015 to 18,719 on the same period last year. Shannon Airport likewise saw robust growth with traffic up 4.8%.

Welcoming these developments, Eamonn Brennan, Chief Executive of the IAA said: "Air traffic continues to grow strongly at all three of the State airports. I am particularly encouraged by the growth for both Cork and Shannon airports. Cork’s performance was very strong last month and we look forward to the introduction of their first transatlantic route when Norwegian Air International (NAI) finally receives its approval from the US  Department of Transportation for its Boston service, as well as routes to other US destinations from Shannon and Dublin in the near future. Air traffic at the State’s largest airport, Dublin, is now surpassing the previous record highs of 2008, while new services at Shannon such as the Edinburgh route, are translating into sustained growth".

There was an increase of 10.7% in Ireland’s en route traffic movements (flights that pass through Irish airspace but do not land) during May 2016, while North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe / North America flights) saw an increase of 8.8%. There were 30,910 en route traffic movements and 42,705 North Atlantic Communications flights during the month.

Overall, total flights handled by the IAA in May was up 10.6% from the same month in 2015. The IAA safely handled 100,181 movements in total last month.

Ahead of the forthcoming Brexit referendum in the UK, it is worth noting that May also saw strong  increases in a number of Irish-UK routes, including Dublin-London Gatwick (15.8%), Dublin-Manchester (21.8%) and Dublin-Birmingham (19.4%).

Click here for more information on flight statistics.

For further information, please contact:

Alec Elliott

Communications Executive
Irish Aviation Authority
Tel: +353 1 603 1418
Mob: +353 86 8223010