A record number of passengers are flying in and out of Knock International Airport this Christmas, it emerged today.
The Co Mayo Airport was criticised as a white elephant when it opened on a former bog in 1986. But passenger numbers have increased by 15 per cent this Christmas from 15,000 to 19,000 and by 50 per cent for the year as a whole - from 250,000 to 375,000.
The sales and marketing manger Mr Dermot O'Flynn said the profile of people using the airport during the festive period had totally changed.
"Knock is no longer the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem in terms of the emigrants. The low cost airlines have transformed all that. What we see now is the frequency and repeatability of people using the airport."
He said Knock had airlines like Aer Arann, Ryanair, Easyjet and BMI Baby flying daily to London, Liverpool and Manchester. There are also a number of charters over the festive season bringing local people on skiing holidays in Andorra and sun holidays in Lanzarote.
"We're still pretty conservative as a nation in terms of Christmas. But that's changing," said Mr O'Flynn. "People want to do something a bit weird and wonderful. As people get more comfortable with spending Christmas overseas, more of this will happen."
Knock has also benefited from its location off the N17 primary route, which was recently upgraded, and its large catchment area.
The airport recently spent €2 million to provide a new departure lounge and new check-in facilities. Next year, it will build a landing ramp which will allow it to service more planes on the ground. It is hoping to increase its passenger numbers to over 500,000.