Ireland West Airport Knock will welcome the first Ryanair flights from mainland Europe today.

New services from Barcelona, Paris and Frankfurt are due into the Mayo airport today, where Junior Tourism Minister Michael Ring will welcome the passengers.

The first flight from Milan arrived in on Sunday.

The new services are expected to bring over 30,000 new tourists to the western region.

Also today, the airport commences its Summer 2012 schedule, with the launch of additional flights to Faro in the Algarve, Alicante and Gran Canaria with Ryanair, and a new three-times weekly service to Leeds-Bradford with Flybe.

40 new jobs have been created at Ireland West Airport Knock, in advance of the airport’s busiest ever summer season.