Ireland West Airport Development Fee

Please note that Ireland West Airport (Knock) have informed us that all passengers departing from this airport are obliged to pay a €10 fee direct to the airport upon departure.
Joe Walsh Tours have no control over this payment.

Development Fee (a.k.a. The Departure Fee)
A €10 Development Fee is payable by all departing passengers from Ireland West Airport Knock with the exception of children under the age of 12 years.

The Development Fee is a fee charged by Ireland West Airport Knock to build appropriate passenger services such as Arrivals, Departures, catering, shopping and car parking. The Development Fee is also used to improve aircraft services such as the runway, safety and security systems for safe landing, take-off and efficient management of aircraft.

Passenger numbers have increased 100% to 400,000 in the last two years and are planned to grow to one million in another 2-3 years. The Airport company has to build and pay for the infrastructure and services to meet the needs of both the passengers and the aircraft that fly them. The Development Fee provides most of the funding for this.

Most airports charge a development fee but it is included in the cost of the ticket issued to the passenger. Ireland West Airport Knock chooses to charge this fee in an open and transparent manner.

The Development Fee has been spent on the following projects:
Terminal Building: New Check-In and Information Area, completed in May 2003
Departures: New Departure Lounge and Retail Area, completed in July 2003
Car Park: Extra 600 spaces now totalling 1100, completed in December 2003
Arrivals: New Arrivals Hall extension, completed in May 2004.

In the coming 18 months the Development Fee will be spent on the following projects:
Catering Areas: Facilities improvement - phase 1 completed in January 2005
Car Hire: Dedicated space in Terminal and in Car Park completed in January 2005
Car Parking: Additional 500 spaces to be completed by Dec 2005
Catering and Retail: Further development of Catering and Retail Facilities to cater for ever increasing passenger numbers
Apron: Extra parking for 5 aircraft at the Terminal in Mid 2006
Aircraft: Upgraded landing system to reduce diversions in Mid 2006

Payment of the fee is possible at various cash points around the Airport Terminal prior to passing through Security Screening into the Departures Area. We are developing payment systems that include cash, laser and credit cards. We are also looking at the possibility of paying the development fee through our website.

The Airport reserves the right to refuse to handle any passenger unless he/she has paid the Fee.

You can make a formal complaint to the Airport management in writing to Head of Customer Service, Ireland West Airport Knock.