Report: Ryanair considers Niagara Falls-Dublin flights - Flights: Airfare, flight tracker, delays, miles tracker & airport news - Today in the Sky - USATODAY.com
Niagara Falls may become one of the first North American destinations for European discount giant Ryanair, according to a report in The Buffalo News. The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) has been discussing the possibility of charter flights between Dublin and Niagara Falls International, the paper says. "The really encouraging thing is that they sought us out and wanted to talk," NFTA Chairman Gregory Stamm tells the News. "We've got our fingers crossed because they are a big player over there and landing them would open a lot of doors for us."
The report comes as Ryanair has talked publicly over the past year or so about the possibility of setting up a stand-alone trans-Atlantic carrier that would fly to "secondary" U.S. airports like Providence (for Boston), Long Island MacArthur (for New York) or Oakland (for San Francisco).
As for the Niagara Falls International Airport, it is not to be confused with the Buffalo Niagara International Airport that's just 20 miles away. The Niagara Falls airport currently has only one regularly scheduled carrier -- South Carolina-based public charter company Direct Air. But the airport is in the midst of building a $30 million passenger terminal and is seeking to add airlines that would draw fliers not only from Buffalo and western New York, but from Canada as well. Buffalo's airport, for example, already pulls a substantial percentage of its customers from across the border, where downtown Toronto is just about a 110-mile drive.
A previous charter operator had planned Dublin-Niagara Falls flights in 2007, but that apparently fell through when that company was unable to secure aircraft for the flights, according to the News. As for the newest proposal, the NFTA's Stamm tells the News: "There's no question there's a market on both ends for these charters. It's more a matter of how this would fit into Ryanair's expansion plans."
Its Dublin - New York...........only thing is, is New York is actually 395 miles thataway!!!