Over 1 million flights recorded in Irish airspace last year

The number of flights in and out of Irish airspace rose by 5.6 per cent last year to just over 1 million, according to new figures published by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).

The data show an average of 2,811 flights were managed by the IAA at airports, through Irish airspace, and on the North Atlantic in 2015.

En route traffic movements - which are flights that pass through Irish airspace but do not land - increased by 5.4 per cent last year while the IAA’s North Atlantic Communications service recorded growth of 5.3 per cent in 2015.

Dublin air traffic increased 10 per cent in 2015 with a total of 191,233 flights recorded. Air traffic to Shannon and Cork declined over the 12 months however, falling by 12.5 per cent and 8.6 per cent respectively.

Last month, flights in Irish airspace rose 12.8 per cent versus December 2014 with an average of 1,412 daily flights. The busiest day of the month was December 18th with 1,778 flights recorded.

Dublin air traffic increased 9.3 per cent with an average of 467 flights every day in December, while Cork was up 5.4 per cent to 44 flights. Air traffic at Shannon fell by 7.7 per cent however to 42 flights on average each day.

The authority reported a 17.3 per cent rise in en route traffic movements to 25,353 in December, the highest number of flights recorded in any month last year.

The IAA’s North Atlantic Communications flights also saw a very significant increase of 12.4 per cent to 34,676 flights in December versus the same month in 2014.