Storm Éowyn set record wind speeds at Ireland West Airport

For only the second time in the last 15 years, Ireland West Airport was forced to close during Storm Éowyn as winds reached record speeds of 157km/hr at the facility.

Managing director Joe Gilmore and the staff had been on high alert in the days leading up to the storm, but as the week went by, it became clear that this was truly going to be a ‘one-in-eighty years’ event.

“By Wednesday, it became apparent that this was something that wouldn’t have been seen before,” Mr Gilmore told the Western People. “We were going to see wind speeds we never seen before.” 

Airport management took the responsible decision to cancel flights on Friday morning and remain closed for the duration of the red weather alert.

“It became abundantly clear on Thursday and we took the decision to stop operations from a passenger and staff safety point of view and it proved the right decision in the end.” 

There was, thankfully, minimal damage to the airport infrastructure. The airport had to run off back-up generators for a number of days but by Monday it was back to business as usual.

Storm Éowyn was the latest in a disruptive few weeks for the airport. Storm Darragh hit in December and there was a week of snow at the turn of the year that also caused some disruption. The airport has the additional challenge of being situated at an elevation of 600 feet, which means it really feels the effect of any extreme weather events. 

Mr Gilmore said there is a lot of research currently being done to explore how facilities like Knock can adapt to a changing climate.

“In the transport section, there is a lot of work being done on climate adaptation and mitigation. There is a lot of research and studies done to see how to make us more climate resilient.

“The major challenges at this elevation are going to be major snow and ice events plus wind events. We are looking at all our infrastructure to see how resilient it will be.

“You can’t control every factor but this was only the second time we had to close the airport. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it was mandated closure as there were no flights but the only other time we closed was in 2010 for a major snow event.

“Storm Éowyn was another such landmark and it is one you don’t want to have too often,” he said. “It was a one-in-eighty year’s event.” 

The inclement climate does bring some positives for the airport as it encourages holiday makers to seek winter sun destinations to escape the dreary Irish winters. The number of passengers travelling on services to continental Europe hit a new high for the airport last year, with 165,500 passengers travelling to and from locations such as Alicante, Lanzarote and Faro.

“We have a good climate but suffer from a lack of sun and people want to get away,” said Mr Gilmore. “People are looking for value for money and you can get great value off-peak during the winter."