Record passenger numbers forecast for Mayo airport this year
By Tom Gillespie
THIS October marks the 38th anniversary of the official opening of Ireland West Airport, still fondly referred to as Knock Airport.
Over the years the facility has grown and expanded and this year an expected record 850,000 passengers will pass through the facility, travelling to 20 destinations across the UK and Europe - surpassing the 2019 figure of 807,000, one of the most recent passengers being US President Joe Biden.
Last year there was uproar when passengers - including myself - forced to travel through Dublin Airport were delayed unnecessarily for hours because of security cock-ups.
No such scenario at Ireland West Airport where passengers can comfortably be airside within a matter of minutes having parked up, gone through check-in and security screening stress-free.
I know as recently I was that passenger, bound for Lanzarote. On arriving at the terminal I parked up in the newly renovated car park, walked the short distance to the main building, checked-in with Ryanair and made my way through security in all of 10 minutes and 30 seconds.
The comfortable surroundings of the airside facilities and the adjacent departure gates make travelling through Ireland West Airport hassle-free and a doddle.
I have covered the development of Ireland West Airport in The Connaught Telegraph even before former Taoiseach Charles Haughey cut the tape on a rain-swept Barnacogue to officially open the airport on Friday, October 25, 1985.
Last month saw a significant development at the complex with the arrival there of Joe Biden and the airport welcoming the commencement of a brand new daily service connecting the west coast of Ireland to London Heathrow with Aer Lingus, and subsequently worldwide destinations.
This new service means customers can enjoy seamless connections via Heathrow to North America.
Aer Lingus currently has partnerships with a network of airlines out of Heathrow, providing access to an ever-growing number of routes and benefits.
Airlines include Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, JetBlue and United Airlines. British Airways codeshares on Aer Lingus services which will offer global access from Ireland West Airport to/from UK and London Heathrow. British Airways also codeshares on Aer Lingus operated North American and Canadian services for connecting passengers to and from the UK.
The resumption of the Lanzarote service last month is part of the airport's biggest ever summer schedule. Ryanair will operate its biggest ever flight schedule from the airport his summer. As well as the Lanzarote route, Ryanair will operate flights to such hot spots as Alicante, Barcelona, Cologne, Majorca, Faro, Malaga and Milan this summer.
Airport bosses have recently unveiled a new seating and dining area next to their XL newsagency (on the land side) next to the check-in area, providing passengers and meeters and greeters with a comfortable space to relax.
Mr. Donal Healy, head of aviation business development, marketing and communications, Ireland West Airport, said: “The summer season started on March 26 and we have over 120 weekly flights to 20 destinations across the UK and Europe.
“The UK services include Heathrow, Stansted, Luton in London, Bristol, Birmingham, East Midlands, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh with Ryanair and Aer Lingus.
“The more exciting ones are continental Europe to Faro, Alicante, Majorca, Lanzarote with Ryanair, which was one of the most in demand, Barcelona, Milan and Malaga.
“We have moved from the winter schedule of 50 weekly flights to almost 150 weekly flights.
“Our busiest year was 2019 when we had 807,000 passengers. The second half of last year was very strong and we ended 2022 with 720,000 passengers. We had a very strong three months start this year and the early forecasts are that this will be our busiest year and we are hoping to do 850,000 passengers.
“I hope that in the next three to five years we will hit the magic one million mark.
“We have had a lot of projects going on for the winter when we can do a lot of upgrades. Since November last we have upgraded two of our car parks, which have been completely resurfaced.
“We are undertaking major upgrades in our upstairs restaurant and we are hoping to have a brand new coffee and food offering up there ready for mid-May early June.”
He continued: “Last summer was a real eye opener in terms of numbers of people who were travelling and particularly from Westmeath, Offaly and Longford, so for us to reach the million mark we need more passengers in from the midlands and the north.
“Covid opened people’s eyes to what regional airports have to offer. We do our best to get that message out there in the midlands.
“Take Athlone, for example. They are one hour from Dublin and an hour from us. But if they come down here they can be car parked up and in departures in five minutes. In our view it is a much more pleasant experience coming through here than the likes of Dublin.
“We are constantly trying to grow the airport. We would like to have services into the Polish market, Germany, France and, of course, the golden dream is to have the US - to New York and Boston - back again like we had in 2007. We know there is a market there and we are in active discussions with a number of airlines on European and US services.
“The very positive thing in that the Heathrow service now provides us with access to the US. It has given us a foothold into the US market.
“The nature of this industry is that things can change very quickly and we are keeping our eyes on the prize in terms of talking to all the airlines.”