Passenger growth at Shannon Airport is set to accelerate this year following a turnaround in 2013 that halted half a decade of decline at the mid-western hub.
According to the airport, 1.4 million passengers passed through there last year, marginally up on the 1.39 million who travelled in 2012.
Shannon points out that while the overall increase was slight, it actually acheived 22 per cent growth in the second half of the year after experiencing a continued fall in numbers in the six months to the end of June.
Chairwoman Rose Hynes predicted that growth will accelerate from March when airlines such as Ryanair and Aer Lingus Regional launch a series of new services.
“The target of the independent Shannon Airport at the start of the year was to halt the decline in passenger numbers and we have achieved that,” said Ms Hynes.
“From here on we are in growth mode and have a very solid platform laid thanks to the advances made in 2013 but particularly the new routes secured that are now in place for 2014.”
Chief executive Neil Pakey, who was appointed last year, pointed out that 2013 was always going to be challenging. "We are very confident that we will now achieve real growth as we move into 2014 and beyond," he added.
