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 flights 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.

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 punctuality. 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.