Ireland West Airport Knock experienced a major increase in passengers travelling on flights to and from the airport in July.
More than 52,000 passengers travelled on flights to and from the UK in July, a five per cent increase on the same period in 2013 as the Gathering provided a welcome boost to numbers using the airport.
July also saw a major increase in the number of German visitors to the west of Ireland from Dusseldorf, with passenger numbers on Lufthansas weekly service increasing by 44 per cent in July when compared to same period last year, which is welcome news for tourism in the region given Lufthansa provides the only direct access from the German market to the entire west coast of Ireland.
Despite July being one of the warmest months of the year passenger numbers travelling to popular sun destinations increased by a massive 14 per cent with close to 25,000 passengers travelling to destinations such as Malaga, Tenerife, Barcelona, Alicante, and Milan despite July being one of the warmest months in recent history.
Commenting on a record breaking month Joe Gilmore, managing director, Ireland West Airport Knock said: “We are delighted to have had a very busy month in July, making it one of the busiest months on record, particularly for traffic on our UK, German, and sun services. The UK and German passenger numbers are particularly welcome given the tourist nature of this traffic which provides a much welcome boost for tourism in the west and northwest, and we look forward to the remainder of the summer providing increased traffic to the region to enjoy the many Gathering festivals and events planned throughout the region.”
