Aircraft Movement Statistics

Detailed information for November 2009

The survey collects data on aircraft movements in Canada.

Data release - December 23, 2009 (data for major airports; data for small airports are published a few weeks later with a time lag of one month)

• Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s)
• Description
• Data sources and methodology
• Data accuracy

Description

The survey provides estimates of aircraft movements in Canada. The data are used by Transport Canada and NAV CANADA for measuring the workload of air traffic controllers, aircraft activity on air routes and runway utilization. The information is also used for airport planning and improvements.

Statistical activity

This statistical activity is part of a set of surveys measuring various aspects of activities related to the movement of people and goods. These surveys are grouped as follows:

Transportation by air includes records related to the movement of aircraft, passengers and cargo by air for both Canadian and foreign air carriers operating in Canada as well as the financial and operating characteristics of Canadian air carriers. These data are produced by the Aviation Statistics Centre.

Transportation by rail includes records relating to rail transportation in Canada, and between the United States and Canada.

Transportation by road includes records relating to all road transport in Canada. In addition to surveying carriers and owners of registered motor vehicles, certain programs rely on aggregation of provincial and territorial administrative records.

Subjects

• Transportation
• Transportation by air

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The Aircraft Movements Statistics cover the itinerant and local aircraft movements reported respectively by the air traffic control units at the NAV CANADA control towers, by the NAV CANADA flight service stations and by airport and carrier personnel, members of flying clubs and employees of various levels of government at airports without control towers or flight service stations across Canada.

Instrument design

This methodology does not apply.

Sampling

This survey is a census with a cross-sectional design.

Data are collected for all units of the target population, therefore, no sampling is done.

Data sources

Data are collected directly from survey respondents and extracted from administrative files.

Airports with Control Towers and Airports with Flight Service Stations:

Responding to this survey is mandatory for the Canadian airports with NAV CANADA air traffic control towers and flight service stations.

The procedures for reporting aircraft movements on the NAV CANADA Daily Air Traffic Records are described in the Air Traffic Control Manual of Operations (NC-703) Volume 2, Paragraph 2420 to 2422.11. Definitions for terms used in these paragraphs can be found in Volume 1, Part 1 General Paragraph 107 of the Manual. To maintain uniformity in the reporting of source data, the Aviation Statistics Centre (ASC) of Statistics Canada issues air traffic control units with an "Air Traffic Designators" handbook (TP-143) showing the official Transport Canada aircraft type designators and the designators of various domestic and international air carriers. This handbook and another titled "Canadian Location Identifiers" (TP-667) listing various airport codes serve as a reference to ensure the reporting of the proper aircraft identity and the point of origin and destination of flights.

Airports without Control Towers or Flight Service Stations:

Responding to this survey is voluntary for the Canadian airports without NAV CANADA air traffic control towers and/or flight service stations.

The Daily Air Traffic Records are used to capture information for each aircraft arrival and/or departure. The Daily Air Traffic Records are completed on a daily basis and mailed to the Aviation Statistics Center of Statistics Canada. Respondents are also supplied with an "Air Traffic Designators" handbook (TP 143) showing the official Transport Canada aircraft type designators and the designators of various domestic and international air carriers.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .

Error detection

For all airports reporting, the data processing system contains editing procedures designated to identify data errors occurring during transcription and transmission or during data capture of forms. Errors are corrected manually.

Imputation

This methodology does not apply.

Estimation

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Quality evaluation

No imputation is made for missing reports. Data received are tabulated, and are subjected to a number of validation analyses, such as working closely with the data supplier to ensure the figures match alternate series and tracking industry articles to ensure series are following trend lines.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential.

If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data. Data for a specific industry or variable may be suppressed (along with that of a second industry or variable) if the number of enterprises in the population is too low.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

Estimates are provided for the reference month and the previous 12 months are revised if necessary. The data are not seasonally adjusted.

Data accuracy

For aircraft movement statistics originating from airports with control tower or flight service station, the quality of the data is judged to be very high due to the staff, highly trained in factual observation and actual reporting, working in these premises. For aircraft movement statistics originating from airports without control towers or flight service stations, the quality of the data is judged to be very good, as survey respondents in this case are not as trained as staff in control towers or flight service stations and are frequently performing more than one assignment.