WATCH:  Ireland West Airport celebrates its 40th birthday

On this day 40 years ago, May 30th, 1986, Ireland West Airport, or Connaught Airport (as it was known then) was officially opened (click on the link below to take a look).

"This is the greatest thing that has happened in Connacht in the last 100 years, and this is the greatest day of my life," said the  late Monsignor Horan on the day.

Forty years ago, "on a foggy, boggy hillside" in County Mayo, the late Monsignor's extraordinary dream became reality when the first commercial flights departed from Knock Airport and it was all because of that bold vision of local parish priest Monsignor Horan, who, against all the odds, built an airport close to Knock Shrine.

Over the past four decades the airport has continued to grow now serving hundreds of thousands of passengers each year and welcoming notable visitors including Pope Francis and U.S. President Joe Biden. 

Passenger numbers back in 1986 were just over 9,000 but since those small beginnings,  the airport has become an incredible success story for the region.

Over the last four decades, it has experienced exponential growth and in 2025, it was Ireland’s fastest-growing airport, with passenger numbers reaching 946,381.

Eighty per cent of that passenger traffic is to and from Britain, routes that built the foundations of the airport’s success at a time when the country was racked by an economic depression and mass emigration.

The airport now serves 21 international destinations and is served by three of Europe’s major international airlines.

Ryanair has recorded its busiest-ever year for passenger traffic at the airport, with record numbers using its services to Edinburgh, Liverpool, London Luton, Manchester, Faro and Malaga.

The airline is also adding extra capacity on its services to Malaga, Milan, Liverpool and London for 2026.

Aer Lingus also recorded its busiest-ever year for passenger traffic at the airport, with more than 96,000 passengers using the London Heathrow service in 2025.

“Let’s face it, this airport had a challenge from day one; being elevated from a small airport on the top of a hillside in the West of Ireland that no-one really knew about,” airport CEO, Joe Gilmore told the Roscommon Herald in an interview before the 40th celebrations..

“I think we’ve gone a good way to being regarded as one of the four main international airports now with Dublin, Shannon, and Cork - and justifying the investment that the State and Government has put into the airport by providing genuine returns in terms of tourism, connectivity and job creation," said Mr Gilmore.

It’s clear that Ireland West is  proving to be very convenient for Roscommon people along with providing clear economic spin-offs for the county. Almost 50,000 outbound passengers from County Roscommon used the airport last year with more than 25,000 overseas visitors using the airport as a gateway to visit Roscommon.

RedC research in 2025 highlighted that visitors to the county spent an average of six nights there, a figure which was up from an average of four nights in the same report in 2023.

Twenty one percent of those overseas visitors who visited Roscommon last year did so for holiday purposes with Lough Key Forest Park and Strokestown Park cited among the main attractions.

County Roscommon is now the fourth biggest market from an outbound passenger perspective behind Mayo, Galway and Sligo.

Mr Gilmore also pointed out that given the airport’s location, a lot of Roscommon people work there. “We had 200 people employed here in 2025 with additional staff of about 60. When it comes to people working here, it’s pretty much all local people who live in close proximity, with a sizable number from Roscommon. The airport has become a significant employer in the region.

“Then there’s the downstream effect with another estimated 3,000 people indirectly employed. We’re also continually spending money with contractors on site all the time,” he explained.

Mr Gilmore  paid tribute to all the staff who continue to ensure the successful operation of the airport, which is a complex enterprise in itself.

Notably, there is plenty of Roscommon influence when it comes to making key decisions. Ballymore CEO and Oran native Sean Mulryan is on the airport board as is Roscommon County Council CE Shane Tiernan.

Mr Tiernan is fulfilling a remit as part of seven local authorities who invested €7m in the airport about a decade ago.

Ryanair and Aer Lingus Ryanair and Aer Lingus continue to provide an important backbone to the airport’s business and it’s interesting that both the airport and Ryanair are two huge success stories that started around the same.