IAA reports year end results - profit falls 67.3% to €4m
The full effects of the economic downturn have left their mark on the Irish Aviation Authority’s year end results for 2009. The Authority has reported full year turnover for 2009 of €161.1m which is down 3.3% on 2008. Profit after tax fell 67.3% to €4m.
Commercial aircraft taking off from or landing at the three state airports (terminal commercial traffic) totaled 222,727 movements, a 17.4% YoY drop. These generated €21.8m or 13.5% of the IAA’s income during 2009.
Overflights through IAA controlled airspace totaled 286,061, down 7.5% YoY and generated €102.8m in revenue, 63.8% of the total.
North Atlantic HF communications were down 7.6% for the year, totaling 389,864 and generated €16.6m in turnover. The IAA’s Ballygireen radio station, mid way between Shannon and Ennis handles the HF traffic for the eastern north Atlantic.
Commenting on the 2009 results, Anne Nolan, acting chairperson of the IAA said "The Authority, which gets more than 75% of its business from customers flying over the North Atlantic, has suffered from the downturn in the aviation industry. We expect that the current year will also be a challenging one, due to the fall in this North Atlantic traffic."
The IAA has also listed the “state of play” at year end with regards to aircraft and operators. As of the end of 2009 aircraft and licencing statistics looked like :
Large aircraft 554
Small aircraft 629
Helicopters 114
Irish aircraft leased abroad 212
Commercial licences 4333
General licences 2201
Irish AOCs 180
At year end the fleet sizes of the major Irish airlines stood at :
Ryanair 240
Aer Lingus 44
Air Contractors 32
CityJet 24
Aer Arann 12