Passenger numbers jumped by 51% at Knock International Airport last year. The number of passengers using the airport grew from 247,000 in 2003 to 373,000 in 2004.
The number of charter passengers also rose from 32,000 to 58,700, up 83%.
Liam Scollan, Knock Airport's Chief Executive, said that passenger numbers for 2005 are expected to rise to over 500,000.
'We are very proud that Knock International Airport is proving to be the key economic driver for tourism and business in the Border, Midlands and Western Region,' he added.
Last year, Knock Airport introduced new daily flights to Manchester and Liverpool in the UK. It also introduced skiing holidays to Andorra and excursions to Lapland. The starting of charter flights to Cape Town in South Africa was also a first.
This year has already seen the commencement of two daily flights to London Gatwick with EasyJet and Ryanair, and a daily flight to Birmingham with bmibaby. Both Stein Travel and Falcon/JWT will operate charger flights to Faro in Portugal for the first time this summer.
