Shannon airport has recorded a 17 per cent rise in passengers last year after adding 10 new destinations.
The Irish airport ended five years of decline during 2013 and then saw numbers rise to 1.64 million in 2014.
Most of this growth was through the addition of nine new European destinations including Munich and Berlin in Germany, and Paris Beauvais and Poitiers in France.
Shannon also saw a 10% increase in transatlantic traffic across its five US destinations: Boston, Chicago, Newark, New York JFK and Philadelphia.
The number of UK passengers using Shannon, which is the largest international market for the airport, also grew by 5 per cent in 2014.
Shannon Group CEO Neil Pakey said stopping years of passenger decline during 2013 had given airlines “the confidence to come in with a range of new services in 2014”.
But he admitted that the airport could be affected by IAG’s bid to buy Aer Lingus – British Airways’ parent company has so far had two offers rejected by the Irish carrier.
“We accept that the market has the capacity to throw up challenges and, to that end, we are closely monitoring events around the potential acquisition of Aer Lingus and implications that may have on Heathrow slots,” added Pakey.
“Shannon is the only airport on the western seaboard with connectivity to Heathrow, which gives businesses across the mid-west and west the one-stop connectivity needed to access key markets across the world.
“The consequences for the region of the withdrawal of Heathrow services in 2007 showed how essential they are and everything needs to be done to make sure history is not allowed to repeat itself.”
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