Irish air traffic continues to grow strongly into 2019
25 Feb 2019
Record January traffic figures point to continued growth in aviation industry
Figures released by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) today reveal a very positive start to 2019, with a record number of air traffic movements handled safely in Ireland. The amount of traffic safely handled by air traffic control climbed by 6.6% in January to 82,556 flights, compared to the same month in 2018. The previous record for January was set in 2017 where 81,373 flights were handled safely by the IAA.
Significantly, there was an 8.9% increase in Ireland’s overflight traffic movements (flights, which do not land in Ireland), in comparison to January 2018. There were 24,553 overflight traffic movements in January 2019. January also saw a 5.3% increase in North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe /US Flights), in comparison to the same month in 2018. There were 35,900 North Atlantic Communications flights handled in January 2019.
Peter Kearney, Chief Executive of the IAA said, “Heading into the spring, it’s very pleasing to see air traffic records being broken. Air traffic demand remains strong in virtually all areas and if this trend continues, 2019 will prove to be a very busy year for our air traffic controllers. We’re nearly 7% ahead of where we were this time last year, which is very positive and reflects the continued growth of the commercial aviation sector in Europe and the US, with particularly strong demand for air services on the Transatlantic. We do however remain cautious, as the economic impact associated with a no-deal Brexit may have a bearing on demand for air travel in 2019."
Individually, the January 2019 figures for the three State airports, when compared to the same month in the previous year are:
• Commercial terminal flights at Dublin were up by 3.9% with an average of 539 daily movements.
• Commercial terminal flights at Cork were up by 6.5%, with an average of 47 daily movements.
• Commercial terminal flights at Shannon were down 4.2% with an average of 40 daily movements.
For further information on these statistics and more, visit our Monthly Review.
Figures released by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) today reveal a very positive start to 2019, with a record number of air traffic movements handled safely in Ireland. The amount of traffic safely handled by air traffic control climbed by 6.6% in January to 82,556 flights, compared to the same month in 2018. The previous record for January was set in 2017 where 81,373 flights were handled safely by the IAA.
Significantly, there was an 8.9% increase in Ireland’s overflight traffic movements (flights, which do not land in Ireland), in comparison to January 2018. There were 24,553 overflight traffic movements in January 2019. January also saw a 5.3% increase in North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe /US Flights), in comparison to the same month in 2018. There were 35,900 North Atlantic Communications flights handled in January 2019.
Peter Kearney, Chief Executive of the IAA said, “Heading into the spring, it’s very pleasing to see air traffic records being broken. Air traffic demand remains strong in virtually all areas and if this trend continues, 2019 will prove to be a very busy year for our air traffic controllers. We’re nearly 7% ahead of where we were this time last year, which is very positive and reflects the continued growth of the commercial aviation sector in Europe and the US, with particularly strong demand for air services on the Transatlantic. We do however remain cautious, as the economic impact associated with a no-deal Brexit may have a bearing on demand for air travel in 2019."
Individually, the January 2019 figures for the three State airports, when compared to the same month in the previous year are:
• Commercial terminal flights at Dublin were up by 3.9% with an average of 539 daily movements.
• Commercial terminal flights at Cork were up by 6.5%, with an average of 47 daily movements.
• Commercial terminal flights at Shannon were down 4.2% with an average of 40 daily movements.