The extra financing guarantees that airports can continue to comply with regulatory standards in these areas and supports essential safety and security functions like air traffic control, fire services, and security.

Donegal Airport will receive €0.721 million in new funding, according to Minister of State at the Department of Transport Jack Chambers. Kerry will receive €1.423 million, Ireland West will receive €1.869 million, and Shannon Airport has secured €7.172 million of the funding under a total allocation of €11.185 million, a 4.5% increase over last year.

This investment is on top of the €16.63 million in capital supports that were previously announced this year.

This year, Irish rural airports will receive a total of €28 million in financing, which Minister Chambers stated showed the government's ongoing support for the industry.

"Ireland's connectivity to the rest of the world is essential for our continued economic development, attracting and sustaining foreign direct investment, facilitating tourism while also keeping us connected with friends and family abroad," Jack Chambers stated.

"With this in mind, I am delighted to see that with these Exchequer supports, overall passenger traffic at regional airports up to end October this year has shown a 9% increase, when compared to the same period in 2019," he stated.

The Regional Airports Programme's mid-term review is almost finished.

The CEO of The Shannon Airport Group, Mary Considine, stated that the airport's participation in the Regional Airports Programme over the past few years has been extremely helpful in bolstering its endeavours to increase air connectivity, which is essential for the West of Ireland's business and tourism sectors.

"We know that if Shannon Airport were included permanently in the Regional Airports Programme, we can achieve even more for the people of our region while supporting the Government's ambition to achieve balanced regional development," said Ms Considine.

The Regional Airports Program's mid-term evaluation examines how well the programme is achieving its goals of promoting balanced regional development and preserving and improving international connectivity and services to and from the regions.