Shot interview with Ireland West Airport Knock Chairman Liam Scollan in Fridays Irish Times.
Numbers should be back to 2007 levels this year due to route growth, but pax spend down 30%:
...Passenger numbers at the Mayo facility are likely to rise by 9 per cent this year to about 640,000.
This is largely down to the launch of three sun routes to the Canary Islands by Ryanair and regional carrier Flybe starting a service to Edinburgh from April 19th. “We are getting growth from new routes but average spend by passengers is still in decline,” Scollan said.
Passenger spend down a third from peak, airport has cut cost base by 30%.
Passenger spending is still going down . . . due to the recession. ... Has Knock turned a corner? “It would be too optimistic to say that,” said Scollan. Knock’s passenger traffic fell by 3 per cent last year to 589,000.
Scollan was critical of how the country is marketed aboard. “I wouldn’t be sufficiently happy at this stage at how Tourism Ireland is promoting the regions and the country as a whole,” he said.
“I don’t see the focus from where I’m standing.”
Scollan is keen for Knock to have flights to one of the major European airport hubs – Heathrow or Charles de Gaulle in Paris are his preferences – and believes that support should be available to help the airport achieve this goal.
Passengers set to flock via Knock - The Irish Times - Fri, Mar 25, 2011