BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) -- Northern Ireland officials greeted U.S. visitors who arrived Friday on the first non-stop scheduled air service linking this British territory with the United States.
The inaugural Continental Airlines flight from Newark International Airport, which serves the greater New York City area, touched down at Belfast International Airport to a festive welcome. Until now, the only way for U.S. travelers to fly into Northern Ireland, a corner of the United Kingdom with 1.7 million residents, had been via other British or Irish airports.
The British government's enterprise minister, Angela Smith, and other government officials shook hands with arriving passengers, and predicted that the new link would boost both business visitors and tourism. Continental plans to operate the service daily in the summer and four days a week in the winter.
Alan Clarke, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, said last year about 100,000 U.S. and Canadian tourists came to the province and his target was to reach 145,000 by 2007. He said North American visitors ''tend to stay longer and spend more'' than Europeans.
