Irish Air Traffic Figures Continue To Suffer From Eurozone Crisis

Irish Air Traffic Figures Continue To Suffer From Eurozone Crisis

By Mike Mitchell

June 14, 2012 - Total flights in Irish airspace for May 2012 have decreased by 0.7%, when compared to May 2011 and by 15% when compared to the same month in the peak traffic year of 2008.

This reduction is largely attributable to the continued downturn in international arrivals and departures at the three State airports. There was an average of 1,537 flights per day during May 2012.

In terms of international arrivals and departures, the commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports dropped by 1.1% in May 2012 when compared to May 2011. In comparison to the same month in the peak year of 2008, commercial terminal traffic has dropped by 25.4%.

Individually, the May 2012 figures for commercial terminal flights at the three State airports when compared to the same month in 2011 are:

Dublin down by 1.1%, with an average of 457 commercial movements per day. Cork down 0.9%, with an average of 64 commercial movements per day. Shannon down 1.6%, with an average of 57 commercial movements per day. When compared to the same month in the peak traffic year of 2008, the commercial terminal flight figures for the three State airports are: Dublin down 20%, Cork down 38.3% and Shannon down 41.4%.

There was a marginal increase of 0.80% in Irelands en-route traffic movements (flights that pass through Irish airspace but do not land in Ireland) during May 2012 when compared to May 2011. In comparison to the same month in the peak traffic year 2008, however, en route flights are down 6.73%.

North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe / North America) saw a decrease of 3.43% in May 2012, when compared to May 2011. In comparison to the same month in the peak traffic year 2008, however, North Atlantic Communications flights are down 9.9%.

In the global context, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is forecasting declining financial returns in its most recent industry outlook for 2012. A fall in oil prices, stronger than expected growth in passenger traffic and a bottoming out of the freight market are driving some improvements in the profitability outlook. This is offset, however, by the continued and deepening European sovereign debt crisis. According to IATA, European carriers are expected to post aggregate losses of $1.1 billion in 2012 as the Eurozone crisis continues. Demand growth is expected to slow to 2.3% for 2012.