2021 has been another tough year at Ireland West Airport, Knock.
It’s as the impact of COVID-19 continues to have a devastating impact on passenger numbers.
Last year, just 175,000 passengers passed through the airport.
It was the second consecutive year in which annual passenger numbers fell below 200,000, following passenger numbers of just 143,000 in 2020.
When compared to pre-pandemic levels, passenger numbers in 2021 declined by 79% compared to the record high of 807,000 passengers in 2019.
142,000 passengers travelled through the airport on services to and from the UK in 2021 compared to a record 671,000 in 2019.
Just 31,000 passengers travelled to mainland and continental European destinations last year compared to 134,000 which used these services in 2019.
Despite the ongoing uncertainty over the Brexit situation, the growth in passenger numbers in 2019 was further fuelled by a very strong performance across the range of UK services available at the airport, with numbers travelling to and from the UK increasing by 2% in 2019.
Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, investment continued, with a number of infrastructural projects commencing during the course of 2021,
These included airport runway end safety upgrade works, design and construction of a new arrivals hall, a passengers exit facility, and an upgrade of the airports electrical infrastructure.
2021 brought some further positive news with the announcement by Ryanair of three new destinations as the airline began new services to Edinburgh and Manchester in September
Last month Ryanair announced the launch of a new service to Birmingham, which will commence in March 2022.
The airport also welcomed back Aer Lingus to the airport in December, following an absence of over 20 months.
