Ireland West Airport Knock

History

The airport opened on 25 October 1985 with three Aer Lingus charter flights to Rome: the official opening was on 30 May 1986. The site, on a hill in boggy terrain, was thought by many to be unrealistic but the airport was built following a long and controversial campaign by Monsignor James Horan, the story of which has even spawned a musical. At the time of construction, the primary motivation was for pilgrims to Knock Shrine. Despite criticisms that the site was too boggy and too foggy, Monsignor Horan delivered an airport within 5 years, primarily financed by a Government grant of £9.8 million. Monsignor Horan died shortly after the opening of the airport, and his funeral was held at the then named Horan International Airport. In recent times, Monsignor Horan has been celebrated with a bronze statue erected at the airport.

By 1988, over 100,000 passengers had passed through. In 1995 Aer Lingus commenced flights to Birmingham.

On 1 June 2003, hundreds of people gathered to view an Air Atlanta Icelandic Boeing 747 land with 500 returning pilgrims from Lourdes.

Recent years

Since 2003, flag-carrier, low-cost and regional airlines including Aer Lingus, MyTravelLite, Bmibaby, Ryanair, Aer Arann, flybe, Lufthansa and EasyJet have added routes to the UK and mainland Europe. Not all have proven successful, but by 2005 the airport was handling 500,000 passengers per annum.

It was voted the Republic of Ireland's best regional airport in 2006 and 2009 by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland.

2007 was a notable year, with scheduled transatlantic services to New York and Boston commencing in May, operated by the now-defunct Flyglobespan.

In 2008 a record 629,000 passengers used the airport, a 13% rise compared to the previous year.

The installation of the Category II Instrument Landing System in April 2009 has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of flight diversions to other airports due to poor visibility – the airport is 200 metres above sea level.

August 2009 was the busiest month for three years, with 81,000 passengers: 28 August was the busiest day in the airport's history with over 4,500 passengers.

In 2011, the month of August was the busiest in the airport's history with 84,052 passengers. 2011 was the most successful year to date with 654,553 passengers. The year saw the commencement of routes to Lanzarote, Tenerife and Gran Canaria operated by Ryanair and to Edinburgh operated by flybe.

During September 2011 Ryanair celebrated its four-millionth passenger through the airport, while Lufthansa announced it would be commencing weekly flights to Düsseldorf in May 2012.

In November 2011 Ryanair announced flights to Beauvais-Tillé, Frankfurt-Hahn, Bergamo-Orio al Serio and Girona-Costa Brava from March 2012. In January 2012 the 20th scheduled route was announced, flybe to Leeds, its third from the airport, from March 2012. Budget carrier BmiBaby announced in May 2012 that it was to axe its only route to Birmingham from 10 June, owing to the airline's takeover by IAG. Flights to Beauvais-Tillé and Frankfurt-Hahn have since ended.

In 2013, Ryanair launched a weekly summer route to Malaga on Thursdays. Aer Lingus Regional, which took over the Birmingham route operating a daily service using ATR 72s ended service on 26 October. Flybe began four-times-weekly flights on the route on 27 October.

On 31 October 2013, in response to the scrapping of the Irish travel tax, Ryanair unveiled three new routes from Knock to Glasgow-Prestwick, Kaunas and Eindhoven. However, these routes had all been withdrawn by the fourth quarter of 2014.

On 16 August 2015, Aer Lingus operated its first transatlantic flight into the airport when carrying members of the Archdiocese of New York alongside Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York. The Archbishop of New York subsequently opened the National Novena the following week after a tour around the entire country (all thirty-two counties). The aircraft used for the Flight was a Boeing 757-200.

Government assistance

The building of the airport was primarily financed by Government grants totaling £9.858 million. The completion of the airport was funded by a £1.3 million grant from the European Union, payable on condition that the airport developers provided an equal sum from their own resources.

On 21 February 2007, the Government of Ireland announced that it was making a €27 million capital grant. The airport stated that it would continue the implementation of its €46 million infrastructural investment programme with over €20 million of spend anticipated for 2008. Work commenced on a number of significant civil and building projects in this year. A€5.5 million extension to the terminal building was completed in April 2009. An extension to the apron, that will see it more than double in size, has commenced. The implementation of Category II Instrument Landing System (CAT II ILS) on runway 27, to enhance reliability in low visibility, has been completed and approved. An extension to the Runway End Safety Areas (RESAs) and runway turnpad was completed in 2008.

Departing passengers aged 12 years and over pay a "Development Fee" of €10. The fee is highly controversial, because the "development costs" from 1986 are generally thought to have been paid off many years ago.

In 2005 the airport changed its name to Ireland West Airport Knock. As of August 2009, the Aeronautical Information Publication, including the aeronautical charts available at European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, show it as Ireland West.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate scheduled services to and from Ireland West Airport Knock:

Road

The airport is on the main N17 north–south road, halfway between Galway and Sligo, close to the junction with the N5 east–west Westport – Castlebar – Longford road. There is a taxi rank outside the arrivals/departures entrance, car hire is also available from the terminal building. There are over 1,500 accessible short-term and long-term spaces.

The nearest major town, Castlebar, is approximately 46 kilometres (29 mi) away. Galway is approximately 89 kilometres (55 mi), Limerick is approximately 171 kilometres (106 mi) away and Dublin is around 220 kilometres (140 mi) from the airport.

Bus

Bus Éireann services:

Bus services connecting Charlestown

Train

The nearest railway stations are Ballyhaunis (22 km/13.7 miles), Foxford (27 km/16.8 miles) and Claremorris (31 km/19.3 miles), accessible by taxi and bus.

Taxi

Ireland West Knock airport is serviced by specially licensed taxis, and are available outside the Terminal or can be pre-booked.

Car Hire

A number of International car rental companies offer rental facilities at Ireland West Knock Airport including Budget, Avis, and Europcar and Hertz.

Incidents and accidents

Trivia