The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) ( ga, Údaras Eitlíochta na hÉireann) is a commercial semi-state company in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

responsible for the regulation of safety aspects of air travel. It is also responsible for providing

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...

services to Ireland's three main airports, namely

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Shannon and

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

. Its head office is in The Times Building in

. The ANSP (Air Navigation Service Provider) section of the IAA will shortly become a separate organisation, to be called AirNav Ireland. The IAA (merged with the Commission for Aviation Regulation) will remain as the civil aviation authority, retaining the name Irish Aviation Authority.

Background

The authority regulates the safety standards of Irish civil aviation and provides air traffic management and aeronautical communications services in Irish controlled airspace. The authority was established under th
Irish Aviation Authority Act, 1993
The authority controls air traffic for all the major international airports in Ireland. *Shannon – The majority of air traffic controllers in Ireland work in the Shannon ATC centre. It is from here that 80% of all flights transiting between

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

are controlled. These are flights that don't touch down on Irish soil. Shannon controls these flights as far as 15 degrees west, approximately 385 kilometres off the Irish coast. From here they are handed over to Shanwick for their journey across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. *Dublin – There are approximately 79 air traffic controllers in Dublin. The vertical limit of Dublin's airspace is Flight Level 245 (24,500 ft). Dublin Airport is the busiest airport in Ireland. Estimates for 2017 show 29.6 million passengers going through the airport. *Cork – Cork ATC provides an approach and an aerodrome service to traffic arriving and departing Cork. The Cork Control Zone has a radius of and a vertical limit of . The smaller airports such as Ireland West Airport Knock provide their own approach and aerodrome service. In recent years, the authority has invested more than €115 million in air traffic control systems. This includes a new air traffic control centre (ATCC) at Ballycasey Cross, Shannon. Built on a Greenfield site, this ATCC became fully operational in February 2004 and replaces the ATC Centre at Shannon Airport which had been in operation since 1966. The new ATC centre houses the Shannon element of the new Air Traffic Management (ATM) system introduced in Shannon and Dublin in 2004. The authority is also responsible for providing communications in Shanwick airspace, with NATS providing the ATC from Prestwick. Shannon Aeradio, as it is known, is based in Ballygirreen, Newmarket-on-Fergus, County Clare. In October 2009, it was announced that the regulatory aspects of the IAA's remit would be transferred to the Dublin Transport Authority, later renamed the National Transport Authority. However, this plan never went ahead. In July 2015, the

Irish government The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The gover ...

revealed plans to purchase a long-range

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...

system at a cost of €10 million for the Irish Aviation Authority and

Irish Defence Forces The Defence Forces ( ga, Fórsaí Cosanta, officially styled ) derives its origins from the Irish Volunteers. Whilst the Irish for ''Defence Forces'' is , as Ó Cearúil (1999) points out, the Defence Forces are officially styled . is used i ...

(military) to keep track of covert aircraft flying in Irish-controlled airspace, including military aircraft that do not file a flight plan and do not have their transponders switched on.

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

Simon Coveney Simon Coveney (born 16 June 1972) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment since December 2022 and Deputy Leader of Fine Gael since 2017. He previously served as Minister for Foreign Af ...

said the increased surveillance capability would give better coverage of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

airspace over which the IAA has responsibility for civil and military aircraft. In the first half of 2022 it is planned that the safety and regulatory division and the air navigation services of the IAA will be split into two separate organisations. The Safety and Regulatory Division of the IAA will merge with the Commission for Aviation Regulation to become the new Irish Aviation Authority. The air navigation service provider functions of the IAA will be transferred to a new ANSP to be called AirNav Ireland.

References

External links

* {{Authority control

Aviation organisations based in Ireland 1993 establishments in Ireland Air navigation service providers

Background

See also

References

External links