A record-breaking three million passengers are expected to have travelled through Shannon International Airport by the end of this year, it emerged today.
The latest figures showed 2.5 million people used the West of Ireland Airport in the first nine months of 2005 - an increase of 36% on the previous year.
Airport Director, Martin Moroney, said the growth in passenger numbers proved that once the services were in place they would be used by inbound travellers as well as people living within a two-hours radius of the hub.
"We have passengers from all parts of Ireland using Shannon at present, but what is now essential for the winter is strong promotion by the tourism sector in the overseas markets," he said.
"With new routes being announced recently for winter season commencement - to Bristol, Nantes and Malaga with Ryanair and to Warsaw with Centralwings, we are being challenged by the carriers to prove that year-round demand exists at Shannon."
Mr Moroney said the airport could respond to that challenge through ongoing co-operation between the hub, Shannon Development and other tourism agencies.
He said West of Ireland tourism would be the major winner from Shannon's record-breaking traffic performance this year.
Another 500,000 people are expected to have used the airport by the end of December - bringing airport traffic to three million this year.
International passengers amounted to 1.94 million - an increase of 36%.
The airport singled out the UK market as the fastest growing sector.
Around 873,000 people have travelled on UK routes since January - a 68% increase on the 2004 figure.
Over 132,000 people travelled on holiday charters from the airport in the nine-months since the start of the year, which was a 14% increase on the previous year.