Discounter Plans Flights From Hub to County Mayo
By Peter J. Howe, The Boston Globe
Jan. 31–New Englanders will soon be able to fly on nonstop service to a corner of Ireland that’s never seen regular trans-Atlantic flights — and they can thank a Scottish airline.
Flyglobespan, a discount carrier from Scotland, yesterday said that it plans two flights a week from Boston to Knock Airport in County Mayo, in the northwest of Ireland, starting May 30.
Flights will leave Logan International Airport at 8:45 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays and depart from Knock at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Sundays, with introductory fares of $259 one way or $518 round trip.
Over the years, carriers including Aer Lingus and American Airlines have offered daily service from Logan to the airports in Dublin, on Ireland’s eastern coast, and Shannon, in the southwest. But this is the first time an airline has offered regular service from the United States to Knock, formally known as Ireland West Airport.
Flyglobespan is also offering three weekly flights to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
Flyglobespan, started in 2002, has 10 jets it flies mainly from Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland to 19 European destinations.
The carrier has been looking to expand service to the United States and increase operations from Stansted Airport, outside London. Flyglobespan, as previously disclosed, will begin service between Logan and Glasgow in May.
In the mid-1980s, before Ireland entered a sustained economic boom, Irish officials conceived of building Knock Airport as a way to stimulate the economy of a rural area.
Irish officials and Roman Catholic Church leaders also envisioned Christian pilgrims from around the world visiting Knock Shrine, where 15 people in 1879 said they had a vision at the parish church of Mary, the mother of Jesus, her husband, Joseph, and St. John the Evangelist.
Pope John Paul II visited the shrine in 1979, and Mother Teresa of Calcutta went in 1993.
Robert Grealis, director of finances and operations for Knock Airport, said he anticipates the new service will be popular. “There’s a huge number of Irish-Americans living in Boston, and a large number of them come from County Mayo and other areas around here,” Grealis said. “It’s providing them with superb access to their heritage and culture.”
Bridget Hester, director of the Boston chapter of the American Ireland Fund, which raises money for cultural and economic development projects in Ireland, agreed. “There is an appeal for people going over to the west side of the country” who won’t have to make a connection by train or car from Dublin or Shannon, said Hester, who added that she has second cousins in Mayo.
Knock Airport is also conveniently located near many of Ireland’s best golf courses, Hester said, and to tourist attractions such as Ashford Castle, Donegal, Galway City, and Sligo.
Local officials in Ireland also see the new service to Knock as a potential economic boon. Airport officials estimate the flights could bring 35,000 US tourists and 28 million euros’ worth of new spending to northwest Ireland this year.
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