Drop in Shannon commercial flights

COMMERCIAL terminal flights at Shannon were down by 5.7% in November of this year, compared to the same month in 2009.

There was an average of 45 daily movements at Shannon during the month.
According to the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), the decline at Shannon was broadly in line with the picture across the three State airports (Dublin and Cork being the others).
“IAA commercial terminal traffic figures for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports dropped by 5.5% in November 2011, when compared to November 2010,” it said in a statement.
Flights at Dublin were down by 4.1%, while at Cork the decline was greatest at 14.8%. Cork had an average of 49 daily movements, slightly ahead of Shannon.
The IAA makes the point that there has been a dramatic drop over the last three years.
“On a cumulative basis, commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports between January 2011 and November 2011 was down by 0.1%. When adjusted for the Icelandic volcanic ash crisis in 2010 however, the comparable growth for the same period in 2010 is adjusted downward to a 1.3% drop in traffic. More startling is the comparison between 2011 and the peak year of 2008. Commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports between January 2011 and November 2011, when compared to the same months in 2008, shows a 27% drop in traffic.”
The total amount of flights in Irish airspace is also down. “The IAA’s traffic figures for November 2011 indicate total flights in Irish airspace have declined by 4.5% when compared to November 2010, making this the fourth consecutive month this year the IAA has observed this level of downturn in total traffic numbers.
“There was an average of 1,240 daily flights during November 2011, the busiest day being November 11, with 1,415 flights in Irish airspace.
“There was a decline of 3.3% in Ireland’s en-route traffic movements (flights which do not land in Ireland) during November 2011, in comparison to November 2010. The IAA’s analysis of North Atlantic communications flights (Europe/US flights) also saw a decline of 1.73% in November 2011, compared to the same month in 2010.
“On a cumulative basis, growth in en-route traffic movements and North Atlantic communications flights between January 2011 and November 2011 was 3.5% and 4.2% respectively. However, when this growth is adjusted for the Icelandic volcanic ash crisis in 2010, the comparable growth for the 11 months between January 2011 and November 2011, when compared to 2010, is negligible.”
It indicates that there will be traffic growth in 2011 of about 4.5% across Europe.
However, much of this growth is in part due to the impact of the Icelandic ash cloud last year, which resulted in almost 2% of lost flights.