There were celebrations in the west yesterday as the inaugural flight of a new service between Co Mayo and New York took off from Ireland West International Airport, formerly Knock Airport.
The new transatlantic service will offer scheduled flights to JFK in New York three days a week between May and October. A second service to be introduced next week will offer flights to Boston three times a week during the same period.
The service is provided by flyglobespan.com, a British low-cost carrier offering one-way fares to both US cities from €209 and package breaks from €539.
Business interests in the west said the service would greatly assist foreign direct investment and tourism from the United States in the west and northwest regions.
The service was attracted to the region by Ireland West Airport which produced research showing that one in two adults in the region had received a visit from someone in the eastern United States within the last 24 months.
The airport also announced a new route to Bristol operated by Ryanair with fares starting at €10.
Since the new US routes were announced last January, the airline has secured high-load levels with 99 per cent of seats for July already sold. The schedule is a year-round one but timetables after October have not been finalised.
Airport marketing manager Annette Kearney said she expected Christmas visits to New York and Boston to keep the service buoyant, but she added that the expected loading was about 50 per cent tourist passengers and 50 per cent business travellers.
Typical trips between the United States and Ireland currently featured two inbound American travellers to one outbound Irish traveller. Research indicated that there was a catchment area of 1.1 million people within a 90-minute drive of the airport. Of these, 15,000 had made trips to the US in the past year.
"The benefit of Ireland West is that people in the region will get an extra day, rather than spend four hours travelling from and four back to other airports," said Ms Kearney.
At a reception yesterday, airport managing director Liam Scollan said: "We witness today Ireland West Airport reaching the next phase of its development.
The airport was opened in 1986 after a fundraising campaign orchestrated by the late parish priest of Knock, Mgr James Horan. Mgr Horan also benefited from considerable State funding, famously making the most of frequent general elections at that time.
Some 20 years later the airport, visible only in fine weather because of mist and cloud on the hillside where it is located, has a throughput of 621,000 passengers, up from fewer than 200,000 in 2002.
It expects one million passengers a year by 2009 and is developing an industrial and business park around the airport.
Passengers on the inaugural flight to New York yesterday were treated to a wine reception while the tannoy played Christy Moore singing Have you ever been to Knock? and New York, New York by Frank Sinatra.