Rockford to Ireland!!

Link provided by the author-Tom Bona from BusinessRockford.com, thanks Tom !!! Here is the story:

Irish destination likely for Rockford airport

Chicago/Rockford International Airport could get weekly flights to Ireland starting as early as December.Maryland-based Kenny Tours is in talks to set up regularly scheduled charter service between Rockford and the western Ireland city of Shannon.It would be a similar model to Apple Vacations’ weekly flights to Cancun, Mexico.

Kenny Tours would contract with another airline to operate flights, but Kenny Tours would coordinate motor coach tours and lodging in Ireland.Kenny Tours hopes to have a deal in place with an airline within 10 days and U.S. Department of Transportation approval shortly thereafter.

Bob Nay, Kenny Tours’ director of sales and marketing, said they’d target people in this region looking to travel to Ireland, as well as Irish tourists looking to visit Chicago, Milwaukee and the Midwest.“(At major airports) people are coming in four hours before their international flight just to make sure,” he said. “Whereas, with us, you get on your flight at Rockford at 9 at night, you’re up there, you have a drink and you’re in Ireland at 8 a.m. ready to go on a tear.”

Airport Executive Director Bob O’Brien confirmed talks with Kenny Tours. He said he knew they were interested in starting anytime between this fall and next spring.O’Brien said Kenny Tours can compete with American Airlines’ and Aer Lingus’ flights from Chicago O’Hare International Airport to Ireland by focusing on the free parking and short lines at Rockford.

Also, O’Brien said it’s a lot cheaper for the company to fly out of Rockford, so they can pass the savings on to their customers.Nay said one-week vacation package deals start as low as $1,000 a person. The company also plans to offer flights independent of vacation packages.

Kenny Tours is also hoping to start nonstop service to Ireland from Niagara Falls, NY; Lansing, Mich.; Columbus, Ohio; and other markets.Kenny Tours has been in business since 1989, mostly scheduling trips between the United States and Ireland on other airlines. Nay said the company wanted to offer its own regularly scheduled charter service so it could get lower prices.

Staff writer Thomas V. Bona may be contacted at 815-987-1343 or tbona@rrstar.com