Planning a trip from the UK to the beautiful south west of Ireland in the near future? Then you’ll be glad to know that Aer Lingus are due to recommence their Shannon-Heathrow route, while there’s also talks that the Swansea-Cork ferry service will be back up and running in the next few months all going to plan.

Shannon Airport is located in County Clare and is the gateway to the west of Ireland, which is renowned worldwide for its scenic beauty. In August 2007, Aer Lingus decided to axe one of the airport’s most vital and successful routes - Shannon-Heathrow and flights ceased in January 2008. This controversial decision was met with a public outcry from locals; businesses who depend on tourism and companies struggling in the tough economic climate.

However, on December 22nd 2008, Aer Lingus announced it was to reverse its decision and to resume these flights again. The airline says that it hopes to operate two return flights daily starting from 29th March 2009. They can be booked on the Aer Lingus website.

Further south in the rebel county of Cork, the Port of Cork Authority are on the brink of reinstating the Cork-Swansea Ferry Service which will also be a huge boost for the south west of Ireland. This route has not being operating since the end of 2006 when Swansea Cork Ferries were unable to find a replacement ferry for the MV Superferry. The ferry link was first established in 1987 and since then it has brought close to 3 million passengers and about 700,000 cars into the south west region creating significant tourism revenue and economic activity in the Cork/Kerry region.

It is hoped that the ferry link will resume in the coming months and will be warmly welcomed by freight and tourism businesses. Due to the present downturn in the economy both at home and abroad, it’s anticipated that more families will be taking their car on holidays as opposed to the more expensive option of flying.

We would love to hear what you have to say. Have you used these services? Have you seen impacts from the lack of these services? Please leave you thoughts on this in the comment box below.

If you’re thinking of flying into Shannon Airport on your holidays then check out our Clare hotels page for accommodation.

We’ve also got Kerry hotels and Cork hotels if you’re taking the ferry to Cork.