60,000 passengers flew out of or headed towards Donegal from Ireland West airport

One of the seismic changes in the landscape since last year has been the country getting back on track since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

And there has been no more an important indicator of this than travel and in this part of the country, that has most certainly included Ireland West Airport, at Knock.

Many Donegal new and repeat passengers have become a core ingredient of that transformation, as they now see the Knock location as their first call when they think about travelling to parts of the UK and certain European destinations.

Speaking to the Donegal Democrat/Post, Joe Gilmore, Managing Director (MD) of Ireland West Airport (pictured above) was reflecting on a tumultuous return to normality following an unparalleled change to the aviation and travel industry, during 2020 and 2021.

This is borne out by a 314% increase in passengers last year compared to 2021 and last year they had reached 89% in their record breaking year of 2019.

 “I suppose that it is important to take stock of the fact that this time last year, we had been closed for the third or fourth time,” Joe said.

“We didn’t know at the time that while it was not coming to the tail end of the Covid crisis, at least we were heading in the right direction.

“It wasn’t really until about March. Nobody could have forecast or expected the recovery and pent up demand. We have had a phenomenal eight or nine months since I would say, April of last year and soon after the government announced the dropping of travel restrictions, face masks and the like. There was a big uplift in demand and bookings with airlines. April effectively then became the start of the summer season.

Ireland West Airport, Knock

“Reflecting on that period, it has been a remarkable seven or eight months, both in the change of human behaviour and their mindset during Covid to people being allowed to get away on a short break as well as reuniting with friends and families to make up for the lost time and all the things that had not happened, like weddings. 

“I have to say, as an industry, the huge support of the government at that time  has to be acknowledged during the Covid period. That kept us afloat, meaning that we could keep links up with most of our staff and we were able to bring back about 70% of our original staff, with the remainder moving on to other opportunities and careers.”

2023 has already got off to a good start with the announcement by Ryanair of their biggest ever Ireland West Airport schedule with 16 routes, operating 120 weekly flights. That’s a 15% increase on last year, including an exciting new route to Lanzarote for Summer 2023. 

Main terminal area at the airport

In addition they have increased frequencies on five UK routes, adding an extra 40,000 plus seats on services to Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Liverpool and Manchester.

The vital Donegal component 

The statistics of the Donegal usage of the airport is fascinating and the trajectory is expected to continue in one direction in 2023 and beyond.

Upwards of 35,000 passengers each year from Donegal use the airport and over 25,000 inbound visitors come to Donegal through the airport each year.

“From a Donegal perspective we had a 50% increase in the number of Donegal people using the airport compared to 2019 based on data from our online car parking system which tracks car registrations - this was great to see,” Joe said.

“Donegal would be our fourth biggest market from an outbound passenger perspective behind Mayo, Galway and Sligo, which is very positive.”

An aerial view of the airport's ample car park

The MD added that the five times daily bus service with Bus Éireann on Route 64 between Letterkenny and Galway, that was stopping at the airport has proven to be very popular with Donegal people as Bus Éireann have reported a big uptake on passenger numbers from this region in 2022.

“Our airline partners Aer Lingus and Ryanair came back strongly, with the latter coming back extremely strongly, in fairness. They took up the routes of  Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester that we had lost due to the Flybe liquidation in 2020. 

There was also Aer Lingus coming back daily on the Gatwick service which was also greatly welcomed.     

“Next summer in terms of destinations, we will have up to 20 destinations that we will fly to, 17 are scheduled and the other three will be kind of ad hoc charters.” 

The bus stop at Ireland West airport is only metres away from the main terminal

With so much emphasis now on keeping journey times within reason, he agreed that Ireland West Airport ticked many of the boxes.

35 minutes to four hour flights 

“At the moment the shortest journey is a hop across to Liverpool which is about 35 minutes. The longest at the moment is Milan or Faro which is just over two and a half hours. We will have Lanzarote coming back in March, which is a four and a half hour flight.”

Joe also mentioned in passing that there was some hope that Teneriffe might be included on the destination list at some juncture. But for now, that is only an aspiration, rather than a guarantee, although he remains hopeful. 

Of course, inbound tourism is an important aspect to the tourism industry and the airport and it was no surprise that some 25,000 passengers had indicated a preference for a Donegal destination. 

“From an inbound perspective, it is mainly tourism related and Donegal has a fantastic landscape and is an ideal location for outdoor activities,” he explained.

Both Aer Lingus and Ryanair operate flights out of and to the airport

The role of Donegal will continue to play a vital part  in the sustainability and future development of Ireland West Airport, Joe said. He is very cognisant and appreciative of the financial support from the likes of Donegal County Council that reflected this trend and is hugely important in the symbiotic relationship between the airport and Donegal.

“We are deeply aware of the investments that the local authorities, including Donegal County Council,  have made. It has made a massive difference whether that be in terms of infrastructure but also a commitment to the region, which has been tremendous.

“Our focus from the county’s perspective is trying to offer the best connectivity to as many destinations as we can including inbound and outbound activity. 

“For example, with the Cologne route this summer we are hoping for a  good number of inbound German visitors, to visit the Wild Atlantic Way and north western counties and also get a good number of visitors travelling here via the Milan route.”

He pointed out that while the €10 development fee is part of the airport’s future, car parking is very competitive compared to travelling to bigger airports and there are no road tolls enroute, if going to Dublin for example.

Big selling points which led to strong recovery last year was the convenience of the airport, just five minutes from car park to departures combined with an increasing route network and great value car parking (only €35 per week when booked online). 

This all seemed to resonate strongly with people, particularly against the backdrop of the challenges Dublin Airport experienced last year.

Joe said: “We really are trying to improve the infrastructure and experience for passengers at the airport. 

“We are upgrading our car parking infrastructure at the moment, including more asphalt and making it more user friendly.”  

Exceeding expectations 

He said that global expectations of the aviation industry and airports getting back to full 2019 levels would take until about 2025, but he was happy to say that this would be achieved at Ireland West Airport this year. 

A hub of activity will only increase over the coming years as Ireland West Airport will continue to grow

“We are ahead of the curve, the airline industry says that despite Covid, there has been pent up demand. Savings put aside by people and travel was one of their priorities. I believe that people are now doing stuff that they may have put on the long finger for two or three years and are now taking the opportunity to take those trips now. We see that trend continuing, despite the increasing economic situation. 

“As for the people of Donegal, without their loyal support that we continue to receive and in considering us as a first airport of choice to fly from, if possible in terms of their destination, we regard them an extremely important part of the Ireland West Airport family.”