Notwithstanding massive challenges within the aviation industry in Ireland currently, Ireland West Airport Knock continued to see passenger numbers rise at the start of 2012. For the second year in a row passenger numbers were up for the months of January and February, with a particularly noteworthy increase of 16% in passenger numbers.
New winter sun services to the Canary Islands of Lanzarote and Tenerife have been particularly popular with over 5,000 holidaymakers from all over Ireland using the airport to take advantage of the cheap fares on offer. A new service to Edinburgh with Flybe has also seen UK passenger numbers increase at the start of the year.
At the end of this month four new mainland European services commence to Barcelona, Frankfurt, Milan and Paris, with Ryanair reporting record booking numbers on the new flights while a new UK service to Leeds with Flybe will also launch. In total in 2012 the airport will serve 28 international destinations across the UK and Europe.
Joe Gilmore, Managing Director of Ireland West Airport Knock, said: “We are delighted to have had a strong start to 2012 in what is generally a quiet time of the year for air travel. In particular it’s great to see large numbers from all corners of Ireland using the airport and availing of the convenience, choice and low fare flights on offer at our airport.”
Are passenger numbers for Irish airports published by the Dept of Transport the same way as the CAA publish data for UK airports?