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Ireland West Airport were delighted today, to welcome Aer Lingus’s 50,000th passenger on their new Heathrow service to/from Ireland West Airport.  James Doyle, from London, was the lucky 50,000th customer and to mark the occasion was presented with a bottle of Champagne and chocolates. James and his family were returning home after visiting family in Clonbur in Co. Galway.

Aer Lingus launched their new daily service to London Heathrow in March. This new service is another milestone in the airport’s history as it’s the first time the airport is connected to one of Europe’s major international airport hubs. 

As well as providing a daily service to Heathrow, this new service provides seamless connections via London Heathrow Airport to North America and over 80 global destinations. Aer Lingus currently has partnerships with a network of airlines out of Heathrow Airport, providing access to an ever-growing number of routes and benefits. Airlines include Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia and JetBlue. British Airways codeshares on Aer Lingus services which offers global access from Ireland West Airport to/from UK and London Heathrow. British Airways also codeshares on Aer Lingus operated North American and Canadian services for connecting passengers to and from the UK. 

In a nostalgic twist, on this day 38 years ago, October 25th, 1985, the first commercial flights arrived and departed from Knock Airport. The first flights were operated by Aer Lingus as three Aircraft landed and departed for Rome to joyous scenes as thousands had come to witness this historic occasion. Monsignor Horan's vision became a reality that day.

Celebrating today’s milestone, Joe Gilmore, Managing Director, Ireland West Airport said “We were delighted to welcome Aer Lingus’s 50,000th passenger on their new Heathrow service earlier today. It’s hard to believe that its 38 years since Aer Lingus touched down for the very first time at the airport. I’ve no doubt Monsignor Horan would be a very proud man today to see Aer Lingus now operating a daily service to London Heathrow, one of the world’s biggest transport hubs and providing access to over 80 destinations across Europe, the US, Asia and further afield – and in turn delivering on his vision for a thriving airport for the West of Ireland. I’d like to thank Aer Lingus for their continued support for the airport and a huge word of thanks to their customers for their support in reaching this significant passenger milestone. In addition, I’d like to thank our own staff here at the airport, who continue to play a very important role in helping the airport reach passenger milestones such as this. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship with Aer Lingus and look forward to many more passenger milestones on their Heathrow service into the future.”