Ireland West Airport achieved a record 834,240 passengers in 2024, up 2.6pc on 2023 and 3.6pc on pre-pandemic, with strong performances from both Ryanair and Aer Lingus.
The airport now services 22 international destinations, with notable traffic to England and various European cities, leading to significant growth in passenger numbers.
In 2024, nearly €7 million was invested in safety and infrastructural enhancements, contributing to the airport’s Level 3 Accreditation for reducing CO2 emissions and improving operational standards.
Anticipated growth for 2025 includes increased capacity from Ryanair and the introduction of new tourism services, indicating a continued demand for routes and services from the region.
August was the busiest month of the year, with 90,355 passengers travelling through the airport during this period. The busiest individual day of the year also occurred in August: over 3,600 passengers travelled through the airport on Sunday, August 18th. In total, almost 6,000 flights arrived and departed at the airport in 2024.
n 2024, the number of passengers travelling on services to and from England totalled 667,732, an increase of 1pc compared to 2023. The number of passengers travelling on services to Mainland and Continental Europe hit a new high for the airport, with 165,500 passengers travelling to and from Alicante, Barcelona, Faro, Majorca, Malaga, Milan, Cologne, Lanzarote, and Tenerife, representing a 9pc increase on 2023 figures.
Arthur French, Chairman of Ireland West Airport, shared “Demand for our routes and services from right across the region and from overseas continues to grow and this is reflected in achieving record passenger numbers of 834,000 in 2024. “I’m pleased that the airport achieved Level 3 Accreditation, in recognition of the airport’s actions to address its CO2 emissions. In 2024, we welcomed the appointment of Dominick Healy to the role of Project Manager of the Strategic Development Zone at the airport, and we look forward to working with Dominick to deliver on the undoubted potential that the Strategic Development Zone provides in harnessing the economic potential of the Atlantic Economic Corridor along the Northwestern seaboard from Galway to Donegal. 2024 saw continued investment in the Airport Transformation Programme, with several infrastructural projects completed during 2024 aimed at maintaining the highest international safety and security standards and modernising the airport’s facilities to meet the future needs of both our airline customers and passengers. In total, with the support of the Department of Transport, almost €7,000,000, was invested in completing safety, security and infrastructural projects at the airport in 2024. Last year, the airport achieved Level 3 Accreditation, ‘Optimisation’, in recognition of the airport’s actions to address its CO2 emissions, as part of the Global industry’s response to the challenge of climate change. Achieving Level 3 Accreditation is in recognition of the airport’s exemplary work in reducing its carbon emissions and engaging other stakeholders to do the same as part of the Global airport industry’s response to the challenge of climate change. In addition, I wish to express our continued gratitude to our customers, airline and tour operator partners, stakeholders, tourism groups and Local Authority partners for their ongoing support in helping us to continue to grow passenger numbers and develop international connectivity for the region. “Finally, a special word of thanks to the staff at the airport for their continued dedication and focus in ensuring the customer and passenger experience through the airport is both a safe and welcoming one. “Whilst the coming year will present many challenges, we will continue to work with our stakeholders and airline partners to grow our suite of routes from the airport whilst continuing to invest in our airport transformation and sustainability programmes.
