2010 first-half traffic results: first signs of an upturn, despite a slight overall volume decline

First-half traffic trends
After further declines in traffic volumes in January and February 2010, March brought the first year-on-year increase in monthly traffic, with a rise of 2.2%. April and May flight volumes were severely reduced by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. All in all, some 16 400 IFR flights1 were cancelled or rerouted around Swiss airspace because of the resulting ash cloud. For June skyguide posted a 3.7% increase in total traffic volumes compared to the same month last year – a sign that a recovery in the air transport sector is slowly getting under way.

The volume of en-route traffic using skyguide’s airspace in the first half of 2010 was a 2.4% decline on the prior-year period. The reduction is attributable primarily to adverse weather conditions, strike actions and the volcanic ash cloud. For its approach and departure activities, by contrast, skyguide reports a 1.2% increase in its first-half traffic volumes.

The peak day of 2010 to date was 25 June, when 3 854 flights were handled. This is substantially more than the peak day in the prior-year period: 29 May 2009, when 3 737 flights were handled.

Stronger peak-time demand
Traffic volumes showed differing trends in the various airspace sectors under skyguide’s control. In certain sectors demand sometimes exceeded the capacity available at peak times, with a corresponding effect on punctuality2. All in all, 19.3% more flights suffered delays in the first six months of 2010 than had done so in the prior-year period.

The situation was exacerbated by unusually poor weather conditions which occasionally prompted further capacity reductions, and by the adoption in June of a new upper airspace structure for Eastern Switzerland. As is customary with any major new developments in the air traffic services field, capacity was initially reduced here as a safety precaution, and was only gradually restored. In the medium term, however, as a result of the new upper airspace structure, skyguide will be able to offer more capacity, and will thus be better equipped to accommodate future traffic growth without resulting delays. First positive signs are already visible.

Contact
swiss air navigation services ltd media relations CH-1215 Geneva 15 phone: +41 22 417 4008 email: presse@skyguide.ch internet: www.skyguide.ch

--- END press release 2010 first-half traffic results: first signs of an upturn, despite a slight overall volume decline ---

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