Ireland West Airport has announced its winter schedule, which will see a 3% increase in seat capacity available from the airport this winter.
This winter the airport will offer an unrivalled selection of services to the UK from the West of Ireland with flights to eight different UK airports providing flexible travel options for business, leisure and the increasingly popular football supporters market travelling over to watch their favourite team in action.
Ryanair will increase capacity on its London Stansted service by 7% this winter offering over 20 weekly return services providing flexible daily return options in particular for the business and commuter passenger. In addition Ryanair will operate up to 32 weekly services to and from East-Midlands Nottingham, Liverpool and London Luton airports, providing the only connectivity to these key markets from the West and North West of Ireland.
Flybe, Europes largest regional airline, will operate up to 24 weekly services to and from Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester this winter, increasing the range of options for travelers both in the UK and this region whilst Aer Lingus will continue to operate daily return service to London Gatwick airport providing easy access to South London and the Brighton area.
For those looking for some winter sun, Ryanair will once again operate a weekly service to Lanzarote, where temperatures average 25 degrees C during the winter season.
This winter will also see the commencement of a major airport transformation programme aimed at transforming the airport over the next three years. The programme will see over €15m invested in new passenger facilities and infrastructural works across the airport facility and runway. 2017 alone will see the completion of almost €4m worth of major infrastructural projects to improve the operational efficiency and to upgrade and enhance the airports facilities and services.
Speaking at the launch of the winter schedule, Joe Gilmore, Managing Director, Ireland West Airport, said ‘We are pleased to launch our 2017/18 winter schedule with our airline partners Aer Lingus, Flybe and Ryanair. Almost 250,000 passengers will use the airport this winter and with capacity increases in the London market we expect it to be one of our busiest winter seasons in recent times. Passenger numbers at the airport have increased by almost 5% so far this year, with close to 500,000 passengers using the airport year to date which has a significant spin off for the local economies through tourist spend, job creation and local bed nights. In addition the commencement of a major airport transformation programme will see a major Investment in new facilities and upgrading existing critical operational infrastructure ensuring we have the infrastructure needed to handle more passengers and provide them with an enhanced experience whether arriving or departing as we enter the next phase in the airports development’.
