Irish Aviation Research Institute

                                                       Courtesy: Google  Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Burton TD, today launched the new Enterprise Ireland €375,000 Competitive Feasibility Fund aimed at stimulating new start-ups, or expansion of existing business activity in the aviation sector. Minister Bruton said "A key part of the Government's Action Plan for Jobs is targeting specific sectors where we have established strengths, and supporting growth and expansion in those areas in order to create jobs. Aviation is one such sector - we already have in place a world-class aviation ecosystem, which offers tremendous potential for new and exciting businesses to carve out opportunities for innovative products and services. In particular, as part of our plans for the Shannon region, we are targeting the establishment of an international aviation center of excellence to support growth and jobs in the region." Today's announcement of a n

                                                      Courtesy: Paul Doyle  Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Aer Arann, today expanded services to Manchester with the launch of its first flight from Dublin to Manchester, the inaugural service was operated by EI-FAS ATR72-600 c/n 1083. The airline will now operate two daily return flights to Manchester from Dublin Airport and aims to fly up to 40,000 extra passengers on the route this year. Manchester is a key destination on the Aer Lingus Regional network with a 10% increase in passenger numbers to Manchester last year on routes from Cork and Shannon. Aer Arann, operator of Aer Lingus Regional, recently announced a package of measures to grow the airline as part of its ‘new beginning’ strategy. These measures included the expansion of services to Manchester through a new route from Dublin Airport. Aer Arann’s chief commercial officer Simon Fagan said "We noticed that a large part of the 10pc increase in passenger numb