Irish air traffic set for record year as flight numbers rise 9.1%

This year is expected to be a record one for air traffic across Ireland, with the number of flights handled by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) from January to August up 9.1 per cent compared with the same period last year.

According to new figures from the IAA, 745,744 flights were handled in the first eight months of the year, with traffic exceeding 2008 peak levels last month.

Total air traffic climbed by 7.4 per cent in August, to 107,895, with Dublin, which accounts for 84 per cent of total State traffic, growing 9.6 per cent with an average of 641 daily movements.

IAA chief executive said traffic through Dublin Airport was up nearly 10 per cent in total so far this year, with more than 140,000 flights.

Air traffic at Cork rose 24 per cent with an average of 66 daily movements last month and was up 6.1 per cent in Shannon with 59 movements per day on average.

According to the IAA, there was a 6.8 per cent rise in Ireland’s overflight traffic movements, which covers flights that fly over but do not land in the country. Overall, there were 33,940 overflights across Ireland in August, as well as a 4.9 per cent increase in Europe to the US flights to 46,050.

Dublin’s busiest August

Meanwhile, new figures released by the DAA, formerly Dublin Airport Authority, show almost 2.9 million passengers passed through the State's biggest airport last month, making it the busiest August ever for the facility.

So far this year, more than 18.8 million passengers have travelled through the airport, a 12 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.

Traffic to and from continental Europe increased by 8 per cent, with more than 1.5 million passengers travelling to European destinations in August.

More than 926,000 passengers travelled to UK destinations in August, up 13 per cent compared with last year.

Transatlantic traffic to North America increased by 6 per cent to nearly 339,000, while more than 83,000 passengers travelled via Dublin to the Middle East and Africa, down 4 per cent compared with the same month last year.

Passenger numbers on domestic routes rose 18 per cent last month to more than 10,000.

The number of people using the airport as a hub to connect to another destination is up 14 per cent in the first eight months of the year, with almost 707,000 passengers connecting through the airport in that time.