Irish Aviation Authority

Infobox Aviation
name=Irish Aviation Authority


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The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) ( _ga. Údaras Eithlíochta na hÉireann) is a state owned company in the Republic of Ireland responsible for the regulation of air travel. It is also responsible for providing Air Traffic Control (ATC) services to Ireland's three main airports, namely Dublin, Shannon and Cork. 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 the [http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA29Y1993.html Irish Aviation Authority Act, 1993] .

The authority controls all the major international airports in the Republic of 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 and North America 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.
*Dublin - There are approximately 88 Air Traffic Controllers in Dublin. The vertical limit of Dublin's Airspace is Flight Level 245 (24,500 ft).Dublin Airport is by far the busiest airport in Ireland .Estimates for 2006 show 21million passengers as having passed through the airport .
*Cork - Cork ATC provide an approach and an aerodrome service to traffic arriving and departing Cork. The Cork Control Zone has a radius of convert|15|nmi|km|0 and a vertical limit of convert|5000|ft|m|-2|abbr=on.The smaller airports such as Ireland West do not have an approach service, this is usually provided by Shannon ATC. However, an aerodrome service is provided.

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 in Prestwick. Shannon Aeradio, as it is known, is based in Ballygirreen, Newmarket-on-Fergus, County Clare.

External links

* [http://www.iaa.ie/ IAA website]