Standard & Poor's said today that Aer Rianta's announcement of 2001 fiscal full-year earnings results on June 26, 2002, will not lead to any rating action or outlook change on the Irish airport operator. Although there was a decline in passenger numbers at most European airports, traffic volumes at Aer Rianta's Dublin, Shannon, and Cork airports grew at a combined rate of 3% in 2001, mostly due to the rapid expansion of European traffic carried by low-cost airlines. The rate of growth is expected to improve in 2002 as evidenced by the strong monthly growth in traffic in the year to date and the lower comparative transatlantic traffic base in the fourth quarter of 2001, as passenger numbers in this
