Media

Dublin, 11 August, 2018 - The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) announced today that total flights handled for September 2018 amounted to 106,809 movements, making it the busiest-ever September in Ireland’s history. This year’s September figures also mark an increase of +2.8% over September 2017.

The 106,809 movements consisted of; Commercial terminal movements, Overflights and North Atlantic Communications flights.

• Commercial terminal movements - All international arrival and departure flights from the three State airports, Cork, Shannon and Dublin.
• Overflights - All flights handled in Irish-controlled airspace, flights which do not land in Ireland.
• North Atlantic Communications flights - Flights handled in the Shanwick Oceanic region.  

Commenting on the announcement, IAA Chief Executive, Peter Kearney said; “These are extremely positive figures for the month of September. Aviation continues to open Ireland up to the world and management of air traffic growth is a key driver for our economy. The IAA continues to invest in its state-of-the-art air traffic management system and in the development of our staff, to deliver a world-class service to our airline customers. Innovation is at the heart of everything we do. We have a number of exciting projects ongoing, including our new air traffic control tower at Dublin and the Aireon space-based air traffic surveillance service. These will further improve our service to customers and passengers.”

There were 32,497 Overflights and 46,774 North Atlantic Communications flights during September 2018.

In relation to international arrivals and departures (commercial terminal movements), the individual September 2018 figures for the three State airports when compared to the same month in 2017 were;

• Commercial terminal flights at Shannon were up by +16.2% with an average of 69 commercial daily movements at Shannon.
• Commercial terminal flights at Cork were up by +11.1%, with an average of 67 commercial daily movements at Cork.
• Commercial terminal flights at Dublin were up by +4.0% with an average of 686 daily commercial movements at Dublin.

The Irish Aviation Authority provides air traffic management services to all aircraft landing and departing the three State airports of Dublin, Shannon and Cork. The IAA also provide these services to 90% of all traffic that transits between Europe and North America.

The IAA's North Atlantic Communications Centre (which is located in Ballygirreen, Co. Clare) provide communication services to flights flying in the Shanwick Oceanic region.