Cork hopes for direct US air link

A weekly transatlantic service to the US from Cork Airport may be about to take off after years of lobbying by people in the region.

Mr Joe O'Connor, the manager of Cork Airport, confirmed last night that discussions between the airport authority and Boston-based Evergreen and Crystal Tours well advanced and that agreement on the provision of the service "was fairly close".

Mr O'Connor said no final decision had been reached but indicated that, as far as Cork Airport was concerned, the service would be a most welcome one. "We are anxious for it to happen and we hope it will," he said.

It is expected, despite opposition from the other two main airports in the Republic - Dublin and Shannon - that the service will go ahead and that a wide-bodied jet will fly the route out of Cork as early as next June. The service would continue until next September, after which a review would be undertaken. Despite local agitation for a Cork-North American service, Aer Lingus has not provided a service and, while the airport authorities in Cork have always stressed that such a service could be viable, no carrier has filled the void so far.

Rising passenger numbers allied to a £61 million (€127 million) investment plan have made the airport a more attractive proposition. It is understood that, if and when the service goes ahead, there will be a direct connection to Boston and onwards to New York. On the return leg, the flight will stop over at Shannon Airport.