If you're in the south of the country and contemplating a trip to the US this summer, it looks like you can get properly planning next month.
According to Cork Airport's head of communications, Norwegian Air International should start selling tickets for its new US service "in February", with flights set to start running this summer.
Norwegian will be using its Irish company to offer low-cost flights back and forth across the Atlantic, with one-way tickets to Boston starting at €65. A route to New York is also planned. Iceland's Wow Air will also be offering US flights in Cork from May, beginning at €149.99 one-way to Boston, New York and Washington.
As a barometer of where average prices will land, Norwegian currently offers flights from a number of European locations to Boston for £135 (€160) one way and £250 (€297) return. That is before factoring in baggage and meal costs.
The services, which will also be offered in Shannon Airport, were initially due to launch last year, but a protracted battle to get approval from the US caused delays.
Kevin Cullinane was speaking on Monday as his airport announced that it welcomed 2.23 million travellers in 2016, up 8% on the 2.07m passengers the year previous.
All of its markets grew, with German routes performing particularly well as the addition of a Dusseldorf service helped activity soar by 75%.
Cullinane said:
“We have been working hard over recent years implementing our return-to-growth strategy, and we saw the first fruits of this work in 2016.
“Central to our strategy is attracting new routes and new airlines while building frequencies and capacity on existing services, which we did with great success in 2016."
