Irish Aviation Authority 'has lost €8m due to ash cloud'
April was very poor month for Irish aviation due to the continued effect of the recession and the Icelandic Volcano, according to the Irish Aviation Authority.
Commercial over-flights of Irish airspace were down 12.9% on April 2009.
Flights between Europe and the US were also down a record 15.1% on the previous year.
Dublin Airport traffic slumped 26.8% on 2009 while air traffic at Cork Airport decreased by 25.3%.
However, Shannon Airport saw the largest fall in air traffic of 57.1%.
For the four-month period between January and April 2010, the number of flights at all of the airports fell. Dublin saw its flight numbers decrease 19.1%, Cork slipped 13.8% and Shannon Airport flights were down 39.1% as compared to 2009.
The Irish Aviation Authority said Ireland’s proximity to Iceland, and the prevailing weather patterns, had a major effect on Ireland during the crisis.
The authority said that from April 15 to May 10, there were 4,743 flight cancellations. Severe delays were experienced by an estimated 530,000 Passengers.
In Europe, 104,000 flights were cancelled during the same period.
The Europe / North America transatlantic routes, which account for over 75% of IAA revenue, were "severely impacted over the period" and initial estimates are that the IAA lost up to €8m in revenue during the period.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that in April alone, airlines lost € 1.5bn because of the crisis.
