COMMERCIAL traffic movements at Shannon were down marginally year on year going into December, according to statistics from the Irish Aviation Authority.
According to their figures commercial traffic at the airport was up by 1.8% in November compared to the same month last year, but is down by 1.7% for the year as a whole.
The negative growth for the first 11 months of the year is almost certainly due to the airport’s poor performance in the first few months. However, since the summer things have been improving and with increases in services to the US, Britain and Europe starting next year, things should improve significantly.
It should also be noted that commercial traffic movements are seen as a less significant indicator of performance than passenger numbers.
Commenting on the first eleven months of 2013, Eamonn Brennan, Chief Executive of the IAA said; “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.”
Shannon in one of three state airports and while Dublin has increased its number of commercial traffic movements in 2013, Cork declined by 4.3% in the first eleven months of the year.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.