Long Island airport seeks service from Irish airline

RONKONKOMA - Long Island's MacArthur Airport may host international flights from Europe - if a deal with Ireland-based Ryanair goes through.

Officials in the town of Islip, which runs the airport in Ronkonkoma, are discussing the possibility of starting Ryanair flights next spring. The airport would add customs and immigrations checkpoints to handle those flights.

Budget carrier Ryanair Holdings PLC announced in April that it might launch a separate airline to fly between Europe and five or six U.S. cities.

Talks have been preliminary, however, and the airline had said it didn't anticipate starting the service for a few years. Ryanair began exploring the possibility of U.S. flights after the European Union approved a deal to open up restricted trans-Atlantic routes to new rivals.

Islip supervisor Phil Nolan said the airport recently accepted a grant of more than $1 million from the Transportation Security Administration to enhance security.

Three domestic carriers now operate flights out of MacArthur - Southwest Airlines, US Airways and Delta.

- Associated Press