2024 has proven to be the busiest year on record at Ireland West Airport Knock. For the first time in the airport’s history, passenger numbers increased by 2% to 834,000, surpassing the previous record of 817,000 passengers achieved in 2023.
The airport now serves 22 International destinations and is served by three of Europe’s major international airlines: Aer Lingus, Lauda Europe, and Ryanair.
From a Donegal perspective, recent research carried out by RedC showed that between 5 and 10% of overseas holidaymakers who used the airport visited Donegal as part of their holiday, spending an average of 6 nights in County Donegal during their stay which in turn provided a major boost for the local Donegal economy.
Similarly based on the airport’s own data it estimates in the region of 45,000 customers from Donegal used the airport in 2024 which represents an increase of circa 10% on the 2023 figures, highlighting the growing popularity of the airport amongst Donegal residents
The five times daily bus service with Bus Éireann on Route 64 between Letterkenny and Galway stopping at the airport has also proven to be very popular with Donegal people as Bus Éireann has reported a big uptake on passenger numbers from this region in 2024.
The passenger growth forecast for 2025 looks positive following the announcement of a new inbound Tourism service from Groningen, Netherlands, which commences in June with leading Dutch Tour Operator BBI Travel. In addition, Ryanair will increase capacity at the airport by approximately 10% in 2025, adding capacity to popular services to Alicante, Malaga, and Faro. This will be welcome news for sun holiday travellers from across the region.
Ryanair recorded its busiest-ever year for passenger traffic at the airport, with record numbers using its services to the likes of Liverpool and London Luton. Aer Lingus also recorded its busiest-ever year for passenger traffic at the airport, with its London Heathrow service going from strength to strength in 2024.
In 2024, the number of passengers travelling on services to and from the UK totalled 667,732, an increase of 1% compared to 2023. The number of passengers travelling on services to Mainland and Continental Europe hit a new high for the airport, with 165,500 passengers travelling to and from Alicante, Barcelona, Faro, Majorca, Malaga, Milan, Cologne, Lanzarote, and Tenerife, representing a 9% increase on 2023 figures.
August was the busiest month of the year, with 90,355 passengers travelling through the airport during this period. The busiest individual day of the year also occurred in August: over 3,600 passengers travelled through the airport on Sunday, August 18th. In total, almost 6,000 flights arrived and departed at the airport in 2024.
2024 saw continued investment in the Airport Transformation Programme, with several infrastructural projects completed during 2024 aimed at maintaining the highest international safety and security standards and modernising the airport’s facilities to meet the future needs of both the airline customers and passengers.
In total, with the support of the Department of Transport, almost €7,000,000, was invested in undertaking safety, security and infrastructural projects at the airport in 2024.
Last year, Ireland West Airport Knock achieved Level 3 Accreditation, ‘Optimisation’, in recognition of the airport’s actions to address its CO2 emissions, as part of the Global industry’s response to the challenge of climate change. Achieving Level 3 Accreditation is in recognition of the airport’s exemplary work in reducing its carbon emissions and engaging other stakeholders to do the same as part of the Global airport industry’s response to the challenge of climate change.
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