AirNav Ireland handled 908,649 flights in Irish airspace during the period January-September 2023. This represents a 15 % increase in Irish air traffic compared to 2022 and is the highest number of flights handled in Irish airspace following the COVID 19 restrictions in 2020/2021.
Total flights handled includes the commercial terminal movements using Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports, North Atlantic Communications flights (Europe /US Flights) and En Route flights (flights, which do not land in Ireland). Air Traffic Controllers, who are now part of the new AirNav Ireland company, handled 237,227 flights landing and taking off from the national airports at Dublin, Shannon and Cork. This represents a 15% increase on traffic using these three airports in 2022.
There were 184,128 flights in Dublin airport, 22,092 at Shannon Airport and 31,007 at Cork airport. 392,212 flights entered Irish airspace as they travel across the Atlantic to and from US, Europe and Asia. This is up 14% increase on traffic handled in 2022.
Dr. Peter Kearney, Chief Executive AirNav Ireland and a former air traffic controller and pilot, welcomed the return of air traffic in Irish airspace to levels achieved before the pandemic.
“Almost 1 million flights traveling through Irish airspace will contribute to the Irish economy in terms of staff employed in businesses on this island country. The challenge for this new company is to take aviation safety to the next level in an efficient and sustainable way to meet future demands.
“We are committed to investing in training and developing new air traffic control officers. We plan to train a further 240 suitable candidates for careers in air traffic control over the next ten years, while employment opportunities in engineering will be available in 2024,“ he said.
The performance of AirNav Ireland is in stark contrast to NATS, the UK Air Navigation Service Provider which has come in for strong criticism in the last week following a spate of service disruptions in the last few months. Jonathan Hinkles, CEO of Loganair, was particularly critical following the announcement of a 33% increase in charges that was approved by the UK CAA.
