A new airline called Fly Atlantic plans to make Northern Ireland a hub for flights to North America.
Flights from the Belfast are due to begin in the summer of 2024, connecting Great Britain and continental Europe with various US and Canadian destinations.
At present the only transatlantic links from Belfast are seasonal holiday charters.
Fly Atlantic says it will operate from Belfast International Airport and deploy narrow-bodied aircraft, but it has yet to decide whether to use Boeing 737 Max or Airbus A321 planes.
Initially the plan is for six aircraft, expanding to a fleet of 18 aircraft serving 35 destinations from Belfast.
Fly Atlantic’s chief executive, Andrew Pyne, said: “Our vision is of Belfast as a strong aviation hub linking Europe and North America.
“The lack of direct transatlantic air services has clearly been an impediment to Northern Ireland’s economic and tourism development, which we now intend to remove.
“The project can be a…
