Thank you for riding with us. Please buckle in.
October 24th, 2007 at 05:03pm Thomas V. Bona
These are exciting times in the Rock River Valley when it comes to the transportation and distribution industries.Chicago/Rockford International Airport is having one of its best years ever with passenger service and continues to set records with cargo operations. Distribution centers are popping up all over the place. The Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (remember, they just changed the name) will get widened in Rockford next year. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll have passenger rail again.
Keep checking back here and I’ll update you on the latest developments locally and nationally (and internationally - Ireland, anyone?).
Safe travels!
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized
2 Comments Add your own
1. Robert Trojan | October 26th, 2007 at 6:54 am
What would really sell local passengers is to know what flights could be taken from Ireland onto the UK or mainland Europe. American runs a flight to Dublin that connects to Birmingham, England for example.
Shannon should not be the final destination
2. Thomas V. Bona | October 26th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Thanks for reading and for commenting, Bob.
According to its Web site, the Shannon airport does have direct flights to 35 European cities. Low-cost carrier Ryanair has a lot of those flights, so U.S. travelers looking to head to continental Europe have options.
But the focus of the route is going to be to and from Ireland itself. Remember, RFD is trying to grab passengers from a wider area than just Rockford, and Ireland is a very popular tourism destination. The bet is that people will be willing to drive a bit farther to get a good vacation package and take advantage of the free parking (which, while a nice amenity for those making quick domestic trips, is really a boon for the international traveler).
Moreover, Kenny Tours is also counting on Irish tourists heading back on the route. That’s a strength this route would have over, say, the Cancun route. No one who lives near Cancun is flying to the Midwest - it’s all returning tourists. But with the strengthening of the Euro in relation to the dollar, you’re seeing a lot more Irish tourists hitting the U.S.
Thanks again for reading!
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed