Last year 772,000 passengers used Knock Airport and this year is forecast to be another year of growth at the facility, founded by Msgr James Horan.

Details of Pontiff’s much anticipated visit to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families in August officially unveiled by Archbishops Diarmuid and Eamon Martin.

The purpose of the pilgrimage is to have the remains of the youngest witness to the Knock apparition reinterred at Old St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York.

Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Seán O’Malley and the Mayor of Boston, Martin Walsh, to attend Knock Basilica re-dedication ceremony on 16 July.

Transatlantic pilgrimage flight from JFK Airport is expected to include Cardinal Timothy Dolan.