Irish Aviation Authority: Volcanic ash crisis and recession hit air traffic figures in Apr-2010
13-May-2010 April was very poor month for Irish Aviation due to the continued effect of the recession and the Icelandic Volcano.
Commercial over-flights of Irish airspace were down 12.9% on April 2009. North Atlantic (Europe /US) flights were also down a record 15.1% on the previous year.
The main airports suffered badly in April 2010 with:
* Dublin air traffic down 26.8% on 2009
* Cork air traffic down 25.3%
* Shannon air traffic down 57.1%
For the four month period January to April 2010, compared to 2009:
* Over-flights of Irish Airspace were down 3.3%
* North Atlantic (Europe /US) flights were down 5.2%
* Dublin Airport Flights were down 19.1%
* Cork Airport Flights were down 13.8%
* Shannon Airport flightswere down 39.1%
Ireland's proximity to Iceland, and the prevailing weather patterns, had a major effect on Ireland during the crisis. From 15th April to 10th May, there were 4,743 flight cancellations. Severe delays were experienced by an estimated 530,000 Passengers. In Europe, 104,000 flights were cancelled during the same period.
The Europe / North America transatlantic routes, which account for over 75% of IAA revenue, were severely impacted over the period and initial estimates are that the IAA lost up to €8 million in revenue during the period. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that in April alone, airlines lost € 1.5 billion because of the crisis.