Ireland West Airport
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Ireland West Airport Knock (IATA: NOC, ICAO: EIKN) or Aerfort na Connacht in Irish, is located at Knock near Charlestown, County Mayo, Ireland. Passenger traffic was 530,084 in 2005.
The airport was formerly known as Knock International Airport, Connaught Airport, and Horan International Airport
Connaught Aero Club is based at the airport.
History and landmark events
The Airport opened for flights on 20 May 1986 following a long campaign by Monsignor James Horan. The airport was intended to bring employment to an impoverished corner of Ireland, as well as allow pilgrims to visit the nearby Roman Catholic Knock Shrine which commemorates an event of 1879.
In June 2003 hundreds of people gathered at Knock International Airport to view a Boeing 747 land with 500 returning pilgrims from Lourdes. The aircraft stood as high as the Airport`s Air Traffic Control tower. It was the second of its type to land since the airport`s establishment.
The airport was voted Ireland's best regional airport in June 2004 by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland.
On 18 January 2005 Mrs Margaret Mary Hawksworth from Wilmslow, Cheshire became the 3 millionth passenger to have used the airport since it first opened in 1986 and arrived on a bmiBaby flight from Manchester.
Airlines and destinations
- bmibaby (Birmingham, Manchester, Durham Tees Valley)
- British Airways operated by Loganair/Aer Arann (Dublin)
- easyJet (London Gatwick [terminating October 2006])
- Ryanair (London Gatwick, London Stansted, London Luton)
Loganair took over the PSO subsidised route to Dublin in July 2005 for a three year period. The flights are booked via British Airways and operated using BA codes. Since May 2006 Aer Arann have operated this route under sub-contract to Loganair.
MyTravelLite launched their Knock to Birmingham service in March 2003 and celebrated 100,000 passengers on the route in April 2004 but terminated the route in April 2005. In March 2004 bmiBaby launched services to Manchester and East Midlands, the latter being terminated later. Aer Arann launched their Liverpool service in June 2004 and terminated in 2005 after losing the Dublin Public Service Obligation route. In January 2005 Ryanair and easyJet launched services from London Gatwick and bmiBaby launched a service to Birmingham.
On August 26 2006 easyJet and Ryanair announced the end of their London Gatwick flights.
Charter Flights
Many holiday companies use Knock for chartered holiday flights. Destinations include Crete, Faro, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Malaga and Palma Majorca. A number of airlines including Spanair, LTE, Eirjet and Aviajet service these routes.
Ground transportation
A shuttle bus service between the airport and Charlestown (5km) links with irregular intercity and regional services of the Bus Éireann network. Car hire is available from numerous companies at the airport.