The establishment of a new direct air link between Cork and the UK was yesterday warmly welcomed by business and civic leaders in the city who hailed the arrival of British low fares carrier, Thomsonfly.com as a significant development.
Cork Chamber of Commerce president, Mr Robin O'Sullivan, said the decision by Thomsonfly.com to establish a twice daily service from Cork to Coventry with which it has been twinned since 1960 was a vote of confidence in Cork Airport.
Mr O'Sullivan said the decision by Thomsonfly.com to establish the daily service would result in not just another direct link between Cork and the UK but would open a number of other routes from Cork into Europe as Coventry is a growing hub in the airline business.
The Mayor of Coventry, John Gazey arrived in Cork yesterday on the inaugural Thomsonfly.com flight yesterday morning where he was met and warmly welcomed by the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Seán Martin.
Thomsonfly.com chief commercial officer, Mr Alex Hunter, said the company was pleased to be able to provide a direct flight connection to central England.
Thomsonfly.com - which also operates a service from Shannon to Coventry - is part of the TUI company which owns the Irish holiday company, Budget Travel. The company offers low fare flights from Coventry to the Mediterranean and elsewhere in Europe.
Cork Airport manager, Mr Joe O'Connor, said the service was helping to expand the range of services out of Cork at an important time for the airport.
"This is a very exciting development for Cork because Thomsonfly are a very strong airline with big backers behind them. They are determined this will work and I see it adding significantly to traffic coming through Cork Airport and adding to the local economy," he said.
