Irish skies are a lot busier this year as 2016 is on course to set an air traffic record
The IAA has said the increase in activity is partly down to strong growth on transatlantic routes.
THIS YEAR IS expected to see record air traffic in Irish airspace, surpassing peak levels previously recorded just before the recession.
Figures released today by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) show that the amount of traffic handled by air traffic control climbed by over 7% in August compared to the same month in 2015 to just under 110,000 flights.
This brings total air traffic handled by the IAA in the period from January to August to 745,744, up 9% against the same period last year.
The organisation said that traffic grew “in all areas during the month and exceeds previous peak levels last recorded in 2008″.
IAA chief executive Eamonn Brennan said that the body is “delighted” with these figures.
“We continue to see strong growth on transatlantic routes handled safely by our air traffic controllers (and) the state airports performed, very well with Cork and Shannon reporting great results,” he said.
“Dublin, which accounts for 84% of the total state airport traffic, grew by 9.6% in August and has grown by nearly 10% in total so far this year, with over 140,000 movements.
“This is a very strong indicator of our economic recovery (and) 2016 looks set to be a record year for air traffic across Ireland.”
Strong tourism year
The large number of aircrafts moving through Irish airspace, especially the strong increases in commercial traffic, point again to the strong year that the Irish tourism industry is enjoying.
According to data released in August by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), there was a 13% increase in the number of overseas visitors to Ireland in the first six months of the year.
This meant that 507,400 extra tourists came to the country compared to the same period during 2015, when over 3.5 million arrivals were recorded.
Tourism Ireland said that the increase is likely due to several factors, including “screen tourism success” on the back of films like Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The addition of a number of key airline routes to Ireland, such as direct flights from Los Angeles, Düsseldorf and Vancouver, was also considered to be a key element behind the surge.
Dublin airport
This was an increase on an already positive year for tourism in 2015, when large numbers of people flying into the country helped Dublin Airport become the fastest major airport in Europe.
Data from ACI Europe, the trade association for European airports, shows that passenger numbers at Dublin Airport increased by 13.4% in the first six months of 2016.
This makes Dublin the leading performer among top-tier European airports that have more than 25 million passengers per year.
Passenger numbers at the hub hit a record 25 million in 2015, beating the previous record of 23 million set in 2008.
