Aviation statistics are available from a number of sources. The Central Statistics Office (CSO), Department of Transport (DOT), the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and Eurostat all produce statistics relating to specific areas of the sector. In addition a number of commercial data/statistics services exist, aimed mainly at commercial data users. Such services are provided by the Airports Council International (ACI), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The information available from the following sources is outlined below, along with links to the source of the relevant statistics and/or data:
CSO Annual Aviation Statistics
The CSO collect and publish annual statistics which give details on the number of passengers and flights classified by arrivals and departures, and by reference to national and international traffic. This covers both scheduled and non-scheduled flights. It also provides statistics on the tonnage of air cargo and air mail. The release also highlights the top routes in terms of departures and arrivals to and from Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerry Airports.
DOT Quarterly Aviation Snapshot
The CSO Annual Aviation Statistics are released on an annual basis in Quarter 2 of each year. The ensure the availability of up-to-date information on passenger and flight statistics the Department of Transport, now produces a Quarterly Aviation Snapshot which gives headline statistics on passenger numbers at our airports for the previous quarter. The first such snapshot was produced for Q3 2015. The statistics for this publication are supplied by the relevant airports. The CSO Annual Aviation Statistics remains the official source of passenger and flight statistics – with this snapshot supplementing that release to provide information on the most recent trends in the area.
CSO Airport Pairings Database
The CSO Airport Pairings Database allows users to download data on the volumes of passengers on every direct flight into and out of Ireland by Airport Pairing (e.g. Dublin-JFK New York). The data is obtained from the relevant Irish Airports and is available by month from January 2006. Due to commercial sensitivities there is a time lag of 6 months before data for the most recent month is available.
Irish Aviation Authority Commercial Movements Statistics
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) publishes statistics on aircraft traffic movements. Firstly, it published a month by month comparison of en-route, terminal (Dublin, Cork and Shannon Airports) and north Atlantic communications flights for each month of the current year and the corresponding month of the previous year. Secondly, it published longer term statistics of annual traffic from 1997 with regard to North Atlantic Communications Flights, En route Traffic and combined commercial traffic for Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.
Eurostat Air Transport Statistic
Eurostat provide air transport data for EU countries across a range of areas (i) air transport equipment, (ii) enterprises, economic performance and employment, (iii) passenger throughputs (iv) freight throughput (v) traffic at airports and (vi) regional data. The data presented is annual aggregated data by country. As noted by Eurostat the availability and coverage of data differs by country. The punctuality of data also differs by data area.
In addition to the above a number of commercial data/statistics services are available from international bodies working in the aviation sphere:
Airports Council International World Traffic Report
The Airports Council International (ACI) produce an annual comprehensive analysis of trends, rankings and traffic statistics for over 2,200 airports in more than 160 countries, by three thematic areas: passengers, cargo (freight and mail) and aircraft movements. International and domestic traffic breakdowns are also presented in this publication. This is a commercial product for purchase by users.
International Air Transport Association Statistics
The International Air Transport Association produce monthly industry, regional and airline traffic statistics which are updated at the end of the consecutive month. They also publish a “Work Air Transport Statistics Yearbook”. In addition IATA produce airline industry forecasts on passenger and freight demand. This is a commercial product for purchase by users.
International Civil Aviation Organisation
The International Civil Aviation Organisation, which is an agency of the United Nations, produces data collect from its 191 Member States with detailed financial, traffic, personnel and fleet information on commercial air carriers. This is a commercial product for purchase by users
Munitions of War/Dangerous Goods
The Aviation Services Division publishes monthly statistics on munitions of war permit applications processed per month under the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Order 1973 (S.I. No. 224 of 1973). Firstly, the statistics provide a summary on the number of exemptions that were issued, refused, withdrawn/cancelled. Secondly, the statistics provide a breakdown on the number of applications processed taking account of troop flights landing or overflying Ireland, overflights with dangerous goods on board, dangerous goods flights terminating or originating in Ireland, Irish Registered AOC holders with dangerous goods on board operating outside Irish airspace, and the number of applications that were refused.
Statistics on passengers leaving and arriving into Ireland through State Airports by country of departure or destination country.
Transfer passengers are not included in the arrival statistics for the airport as Ireland is not the final destination for these passengers who do not leave the airport before travelling onwards. All statistics set out below are provisional figures provided by the airports and are subject to change.
Statistics only account for the last country of the journey for arrivals and first destination country for Departures.