Irish Aviation Authority: Traffic movements for June-2010

This is a positive development following the severe impact on traffic figures during April and May this year due to the eruption of the Icelandic Volcano. While 2009, witnessed the biggest decline in air passenger traffic in the post-war era according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Authority has now observed growth in enroute traffic numbers during both March and June 2010 of +5% and +1.6% respectively.

This trend has also been mirrored in the analysis of North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe /US Flights) , which saw growth of 1% and 0.8% respectively during the Months of March and June 2010.

While Terminal traffic continues to decline, the rate of decline in June 2010 has dropped for both Dublin and Cork Airport's commercial traffic .

The traffic growth rates for the State airports in June 2010 are as follows:

• Commercial terminal flights at Dublin were down -2.7%
• Commercial terminal flights at Cork were down -6.4%
• Commercial terminal flights at Shannon were down -56.9%

For the six month period January to June 2010, compared to 2009:

• Over-flights were down -3.6%
• North Atlantic Communication flights were down -5.4%
• Commercial terminal flights at Dublin were down -15.1%
• Commercial terminal flights at Cork were down -11.8%
• Commercial terminal flights at Shannon were down -45.4%

The latest available traffic forecast from EUROCONTROL estimate that European traffic will experience a growth rate of +0.8% for 2010, however, these forecast will be revised in September 2010, when more information is available.