Record number of passengers expected through Shannon Airport this bank holiday
THERE'S not just witches on broom sticks taking to the skies over the Halloween bank holiday.
Shannon Airport is expecting record breaking passenger numbers with over 44,000 people forecast to take off from the airport throughout the October holiday period.
This will be the highest number of passengers to travel through the airport during the Halloween break since 2009.
Extra flights have been added at the popular airport to facilitate the Halloween holiday exodus. Over 200 extra flights have been added during school holidays in October, Christmas, and Easter, made possible thanks to a third Ryanair based aircraft.
The spooky season is proving popular amongst travellers for overseas getaways this year, as forecasted figures for the bank holiday period at Shannon Airport are up by 37 per cent compared to the same period last year.
European destinations this bank holiday are firm favourites, with a 60 per cent increase in the number of passengers travelling to an array of city and sun destinations across Europe for the seasonal break when compared to 2022’s Samhain season.
Transatlantic passenger numbers have jumped by 11 per cent and travellers to UK destinations are up by 33 per cent on the same period last year.
Mary Considine, CEO of The Shannon Airport Group said, “Our recovery to date has been consistently strong and we are seeing this with a record-breaking number of passengers expected this Halloween break. Not only are more people travelling this October Bank Holiday when compared to last year, but we are also up by 23 per cent in passenger traffic for the same period in 2019 (pre pandemic).
"This is bolstered by the fact that for our Winter schedule, we have added 200 extra flights throughout the school holidays breaks in October, Christmas and Easter, to accommodate those well-deserved family get aways. Our new service to Paris Charles De Gaulle with Aer Lingus commenced in September, providing more exciting travel options for our passengers."
Earlier this month Shannon Airport launched its winter schedule to 22 destinations across the UK, Europe and the US, with 188 weekly flights.
The schedule officially kicks off this Bank Holiday weekend on October 29 and will run until March 30 2024