There was further good news for commuters yesterday with the announcement that Ryanair has extended its evening services from London to Stansted airport for the winter on Fridays and Sundays.
Between December and March, Ryanair will depart Ireland West Airport Knock at 10.05am and 7pm on Fridays for Stansted and will fly back to Ireland West Knock, leaving the London airport at 8.10am and 5.05pm on Friday. On Sundays Ryanair will fly from Ireland West Airport Knock to Stansted at 2pm and 7pm, while they will fly from Stansted to the Mayo airport at 12.05pm and 5.05pm.
Commenting on the news, Joe Gilmore, Managing Director at Ireland West Airport Knock said: “We are delighted Ryanair have responded to passenger demand from both the region and the UK by extending the new evening services to and from London Stansted for the coming winter season.
“The additional evening London services, which were introduced in April of this year have proven hugely successful, proving particularly popular for people commuting for work purposes in the UK and we are delighted to be able to cater for this demand. Likewise the continuation of the evening services will be a boost for businesses in the region with the early morning Standsted departure and later evening London departure facilitating a day return for those looking to do business in London and indeed the west and north west of Ireland’
The new services which have proved so successful during the summer months will add an additional 13,000 new seats this winter to and from the London market and brings in total the number of seats to and from the London market to over 177,000 this winter, with daily services also available with Ryanair to London Luton and with Aer Lingus to London Gatwick.
Commenting on the announcement, Ryanair’s Maria Macken said: ‘Ryanair is delighted to extend its double daily Knock – London Stansted service on Fridays and Sundays through the winter season as part of a 10 year growth deal which was announced at London Stagnated recently’.
This news follows on from last weeks announcement by the airport that, passenger numbers passing through the airport had increased for the second month in a row in September. Last month 62,000 passengers travelled on flights to and from Ireland West Airport Knock a two per cent increase on the numbers travelling in the same period in 2012.
The airport also experienced an increase in passenger number on flights to and from the UK which had increased by five per cent in the months. It was also announced recently that Flybe were to introduce a new service to Birmingham which will operate four times a week starting on October 27.
Speaking on the positive figures in September Joe Gilmore, Managing Director, Ireland West Airport Knock said “It has been extremely encouraging to see such strong numbers continuing to use the airport. Its been one of our busiest summers on record and what has been most noticeable is the regional spread of passengers travelling on our services. We have seen significant increases in the number of people using the airport from the likes of Donegal, Westmeath and the Galway region in particular, highlighting the convenience of the airport but also the important role the airport plays in servicing the wider west, north west and midlands regions of Ireland.”
