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Ireland West Airport Knock (Irish: Aerfort Iarthar Éireann Chnoc Mhuire) is an airport located 3 NM (5.6 km; 3.5 mi)[1] south-west of Charlestown, County Mayo, Ireland. 630,000 passengers used the airport in 2008.[2] The airport was formerly known as Knock International Airport, Connacht Regional Airport, and Horan International Airport. Connaught Aero Club[3] and Shoreline Aviation The airport was officially opened on 30 May 1986, however the first commercial flights operated seven months earlier on 25 October 1985 in the form of three Aer Lingus charter flights to Rome.[4] The opening followed a long campaign by Monsignor James Horan.[4] The airport was intended to bring employment to an impoverished corner of Ireland, as well as allow pilgrims to visit the nearby Roman Catholic Knock Shrine which commemorates an apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1879.


a bmibaby Boeing 737-300 lands from Manchester in KnockRyanair commenced flights to London Luton during 1986, with a route to London Stansted added in 1992. By 1988, over 100,000 passengers had passed through the airport. In 1995 Aer Lingus commenced flights to Birmingham.[4]

In June 2003 hundreds of people gathered at Knock International Airport to view a Boeing 747 land with 500 returning pilgrims from Lourdes. The aircraft stood as high as the airport's air traffic control tower. It was the second 747 to land at Knock.