Fearghal O'Connor: 'Irish flights are soaring but we still haven't cracked America'

Despite huge growth in the aviation sector, Ireland is 24th in markets served by US flights

Jet fuel is exempt from taxation and the introduction of a levy would need the approval of all EU member states Photo: Getty

Ireland is not yet in the top 20 markets served by flights from US airports - despite major expansion of transatlantic traffic from this country, a new survey has found.

The survey by aviation analysts Anno Aero found that Ireland comes just 24th when it comes to available seat kilometres (ASKs) on airlines serving US destinations.

Aer Lingus in particular has been growing rapidly in recent years out of Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport, where an increasing number of passengers from British and European locations are transferring onto the airline’s America bound flights.