Great news for visitors to Ireland: flying from the US into Cork Airport is about to get a lot easier.

Wow Air, the Icelandic low-cost airline, is rolling out transatlantic services between eight key North American cities and Cork Airport for less than $163.00 (€149.00) one way.  

This is perhaps the most exciting impact of the new Cork – Reykjavik service, which will commence next year. 

WOW’s new year-round service will also bring low-cost transatlantic connections from Cork to eight key destinations across the US and Canada.

Fares between Cork and Reykjavik will start at $66.00  (€59.99) each way including taxes and charges. The airline will also provide easy and affordable access to Ireland from Cork to Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, New York City, San Francisco, Toronto and Washington DC, with starting fares as low as $163.00 (€149.00) each way.

The new service with will start on May 19, 2017, with Wow operating four convenient weekly flights on Monday, Wednesday ,Friday and Sunday during the Summer 2017 season and then operating three weekly services during Winter 2017. This means an additional 66,000 seats available to and from Cork Airport next year.

Through the airline’s Wow Stopover package, travelers will have the option of enjoying a break in Iceland when flying across the Atlantic to or from any of its European and North American airports. 

“We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Wow air to Cork as our latest airline partner,” said Cork Airport Managing Director Niall MacCarthy.

Read more: $69 US to Cork flights on Norwegian Air finally cleared for take-off

“The new service is fantastic news for outbound and inbound visitors, especially as it will offer very affordable transatlantic travel between Munster and North America.” 

Wow air’s CEO, Skúli Mogensen said the airline was delighted to announce its new service from Cork. “We are delighted to add Cork Airport to the WOW air route network today. We’re keen to expand our services from Ireland and are delighted to offer further choice and value in travel through our expansion in Cork. As a significant business and leisure hub in Ireland, we have ambitious targets for our Cork services and we look forward to working with Niall and the team in Cork Airport to develop these exciting new routes,” he said.

Tourism Ireland also greeted the news enthusiastically, with CEO Niall Gibbons calling it “good news for tourism to Cork and the South of Ireland. Not only will it help grow visitor numbers from Iceland, but this new service will also offer connectivity between North America and Cork. We look forward to co-operating with Wow air, Cork Airport and other tourism partners, to maximize the promotion of this new service from Reykjavik to Cork.”

The new routes spell out good news for anyone looking at wallet-friendly way to travel between Ireland and the US, a route for which there are few “budget” options. Norwegian Air has planned a direct US-Ireland route via Cork Airport, scheduled to launch in March 2017, but has been subject to delays as the US government and Department of Transportation still have yet to confirm the license amid push back on the new routes from unions representing airline staff on both sides of the Atlantic, and petitions from Congressmen to block the move.

WOW air is based at Keflavik International Airport and operates a fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft. Founded in November 2011, WOW air now serves 31 destinations across Europe and America and is constantly growing its route network. It began operations in Ireland in 2015 when it commenced a Dublin-Reykjavik service. 

Fares between Cork, Ireland and Reykjavik, Iceland one way incl. taxes and charges from:

KEF 65.50 USD / 59.99 EUR

Fares between Cork, Ireland and  the US East Coast one way incl. taxes and charges from: 

BOS 164.00 USD / 149.99 EUR

BWI 164.00 USD / 149.99 EUR

EWR 164.00 USD / 149.99 EUR

Fares between Cork, Ireland and the US West Coast one way incl. taxes and charges from: 

LAX 196.00 USD / 179.99 EUR

SFO 196.00 USD / 179.99 EUR

MIA 196.00 USD / 179.99 EUR

YUL 164.00 USD / 149.99 EUR

YYZ 164.00 USD / 149.99 EUR