As the airport prepares to mark its 40th anniversary and continues to record strong passenger growth, improved public transport access has been identified as key to unlocking the airport\u2019s future growth\n<\/p>\n
Following discussions with the National Transport Authority, Senator Mark Duffy confirmed that proposals have been unveiled for a public transport route connecting north and east Mayo to the airport.<\/p>\n
Under the plans, the new shuttle would link with the existing Route 22 Expressway service between Ballina and Dublin.<\/p>\n
Route 22 currently passes through Charlestown in east Mayo. The proposed airport connection would branch out from there, heading to Ireland West Airport Knock via Kiltimagh before terminating in Castlebar.<\/p>\n
The route would connect with the pre-existing Route 22 service that travels between Ballina and Dublin.<\/p>\n
The service would begin in Ballina, travelling through Foxford and Swinford to Charlestown, where passengers could transfer onto the dedicated airport shuttle.<\/p>\n
From there, the route would continue to the airport, on to Kiltimagh and finish in Castlebar, creating a new public transport link to the region\u2019s international airport.<\/p>\n
Senator Duffy, the Seanad Spokesperson on Transport, said that \u201csubject to being funded, the route could be in place later this year\u201d and committed to advocating for its delivery.<\/p>\n
Minister Dara Calleary welcomed the proposal, saying it would \u201cfurther open up Ballina and North Mayo in terms of connectivity\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be continuing to liaise with the NTA in the coming weeks prior to the proposal being adopted and commenced, and will update accordingly,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The proposed service comes at a time of significant growth for Ireland West Airport Knock, which is preparing to mark its 40th anniversary at the end of May.<\/p>\n
Knock was also the fastest-growing airport in the country last year, recording its busiest year in history, with 946,381 passengers travelling through it.<\/p>\n
That growth comes as the airport is at the centre of a major economic initiative for Mayo and the wider western region, having been designated as a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ).<\/p>\n
The Knock Airport SDZ has the potential to support up to 6,000 jobs and will see the development of an Airport Development and Expansion Area, a Hotel and Conference Campus, a Business and Enterprise Campus, and a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) sector.<\/p>\n
A Roadmap guiding future planning and development within the zone is currently being prepared and is expected to be published in August this year. It will outline potential funding streams, infrastructure requirements and future connectivity options.<\/p>\n
Connectivity has been identified as critical to unlocking the airport\u2019s full potential. Mayo County Council\u2019s Economic Development Strategy makes clear that significant transport improvements will be needed to support its continued expansion.<\/p>\n
The strategy highlights the need for upgrades to the N17, improved access to the Western Rail Corridor and enhanced bus services across the region as key priorities in strengthening links to Ireland West Airport Knock.<\/p>\n
The announcement of a potential new bus connection linking towns across Mayo directly with the airport would be an important step forward in delivering that improved connectivity.<\/p>\n
If delivered, the service would not only improve accessibility for towns throughout the county, but it would also strengthen the transport infrastructure needed to sustain the airport\u2019s continued growth.<\/p>\n
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the airport prepares to mark its 40th anniversary and continues to record strong passenger growth, improved public…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[41891,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-330273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-charlotte-davis","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}