There was further good news for air transport links to the west of Ireland yesterday with the announcement by Ireland West Airport, Knock, of the start of daily services to Gatwick.
The agreement with XL.com will link Knock to the world's seventh busiest airport, and boost connectivity between Knock and three London airports to 1,200 seats daily.
XL.com is the UK's third largest travel provider, and the Ireland West, Knock-Gatwick route is the company's first scheduled service to Ireland.
The service will utilise the latest generation of Boeing 737-800 with 189 seats.
Customers of the new service will be offered 410 onward connections from Gatwick.
The company also plans direct flights from Cork to Santorini in Greece from next year, when it also plans to add Bulgaria and Portugal as destinations from Ireland West, Knock.
The managing director of XL Leisure Group Ireland, Bill Smith, said the new Gatwick service was in response "to huge customer demand for the route".
He said there was "significant demand that exists from London's central and southern areas, as well as from the southern counties of south and west Sussex, for direct flights to Ireland's western regions".
Robert Grealis, chief executive of Ireland West Airport, Knock, said the new route was welcome news to many thousands of customers as London and southeast England were the single biggest market for the airport.
Tourism Ireland also welcomed the new service, saying that, "Britain is a key source market for the island of Ireland, and these new flights will help boost business to the western region".
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/8a09a42a-bf7b-491e-848d-432f8309b3fa.png)