Shannon Airport has reported a 17 per cent increase in 2014 on the previous year for passenger numbers.
The positive figure was on the back of ten new destinations and 16 service enhancements overall last year.
Despite the news, Shannon Group chief executive Neil Pakey said "everything must be done" to ensure that the Aer Lingus service from the mid western airport to London Heathrow is not axed if the airline is taken over by IAG.
Shannon ended five successive years of decline in 2013 and last year delivered significant growth, with passenger numbers increasing from 1.4 million to more than 1.6 million
It's reported that the biggest growth market was in European services, where nine new destinations hit a 70 per cent increase (from 251,813 to 427,887).
