'Significant milestone' for Ireland West Airport Knock

Ryanair today (Thurs, 23 Oct) announced that it has surpassed 12 million passengers through Ireland West Airport Knock since it began operations to/from the airport in 1986.

This Winter, Ryanair is operating 86 weekly flights across 10 routes to/from Ireland West Airport Knock, including winter sun hotspots like Lanzarote, Malaga, and Tenerife, as well as top city break destinations like Edinburgh, Liverpool, and London.

Ireland West Airport Knock’s Managing Director, Joe Gilmore, said:

“This is another significant milestone in the airport’s history, welcoming Ryanair’s 12 millionth passenger to the airport. Ryanair’s first scheduled commercial flight into Knock was on 16th December 1986 — the “Spirit of Monsignor Horan” HS-748 landed at Knock from London which at the time was the first direct link from the West of Ireland to London. It’s been a fantastic journey over the last 39 years with so many great highlights and milestones achieved along the way.

"During this time Ryanair has continued to grow at the airport and provide critically important international access to and from the UK market and connected the West of Ireland to major European cities such as Milan, Barcelona and Cologne which have provided a huge tourism and economic boost for the West and Northwest of Ireland.

"As we look ahead to the airport's 40th anniversary in 2026, we look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship with Ryanair and expanding our range of services over the coming years. We would like to give a special mention to Ryanair’s customers, and particularly the Ryanair staff here at the airport, who continue to play a very important role in helping the airport and Ryanair reach record passenger milestones such as this and ensure the experience using the airport continues to be both a seamless and pleasant one.”