Many people in Ireland scoffed at the notion of building an airport on a windswept plateau of bogland in the west of the country. The received wisdom was that it would never get off the ground. But almost 40 years after the first flights roared up the 2.3-kilometre runway at Knock airport, or Ireland West Airport, to use the official name, the facility is not only going strong but reporting soaring traffic. According to a January statement, 2023 was “the busiest year on record.” Knock’s annual passenger number of 818,000 was not only a 13% jump on 2022 but topped the next best of 807,000 in 20…