Ireland West Airport records highest ever passenger numbers

Ireland West Airport Knock recorded its busiest year on record in 2023 with passenger numbers increasing by 13% to 818,000. This figure surpasses the previous record of 807,000 passengers achieved in 2019.

The airport serves 21 international destinations and is served by three airlines, Aer Lingus, Lauda Europe, and Ryanair.

Passenger numbers travelling on services to and from the UK totalled 665,000 in 2023, boosted by the commencement of a new daily service to London Heathrow with Aer Lingus, which provides onward connectivity to 80+ destinations worldwide. Ryanair recorded its busiest ever year for passenger numbers carrying over 730,000 passengers, a 3% increase on 2022 with record numbers using their services to and from Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Manchester in the UK.

The number of passengers traveling on services to mainland and continental Europe hit a new high, with 148,000 passengers traveling to and from Alicante, Barcelona, Faro, Majorca, Malaga, Milan, Cologne, Lanzarote, and Tenerife, which represented a 7% increase on 2022 figures.

When compared to 2019, the previous busiest year on record, short-haul traffic to the UK increased by 19%, while passenger numbers traveling to sun and European city break destinations increased by 16%.

August proved to be the busiest month of the year with 102,000 passengers travelling through the airport during this period, with the busiest individual day of the year also occurring in August, when over 4,500 passengers travelled through the airport on Tuesday, August 29th.

In total over 6,000 flights departed and arrived in 2023 with less than 10 flights impacted because of adverse weather, the lowest figure on record.

Last year 2023 saw continued investment in the Airport Transformation Programme, with a number of infrastructural projects completed aimed at transforming the facility and modernising it to ensure the facility will meet the future needs of both airline customers and passengers.

One of the headline projects completed in 2023 was the installation of a new next-generation cabin baggage screening system, which is now fully operational. These new machines remove the need for passengers to remove laptops, phones and liquids from cabin bags and the restriction on liquids of more than 100ml no longer applies.

Commenting on the 2023 performance, Arthur French, Chairman, Ireland West Airport said: “We are delighted to have seen such a strong recovery in passenger travel in 2023, which has resulted in a record year for the airport, which is great news for tourism and job creation, both at the airport and in the wider economy. 

"It was a milestone year, we had the honour of welcoming the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, to the West of Ireland, as he touched down at the airport on Friday, April 14th in what was a momentous occasion for the airport and indeed the West of Ireland. We launched new services to both Lanzarote and Tenerife with Ryanair, and for the first time launched a new daily service with Aer Lingus, to one of Europe’s major international airport hubs, London Heathrow.

“I would like to thank Minister Eamon Ryan TD, and Minister of State Jack Chambers, TD, and Govt representatives for their continued support. In addition, I wish to express our gratitude to our customers, airline and tour operator partners, stakeholders, tourism groups and Local Authority partners for their ongoing support in helping us to continue to grow passenger numbers and develop international connectivity for the region. 

"I would also like to say a special word of thanks to the staff for their hard work and continued focus on ensuring the customer and passenger experience is both a safe and welcoming one. We will continue to work with our stakeholders and airline partners over the next 12 months as we strive to further grow our suite of routes whilst continuing to invest in our airport transformation programme.”