The head of Ireland’s main airport operator has backed plans by Norwegian Air International to operate a transatlantic service between Cork and the US, saying the demand exists despite recent route cancellations at the airport.

When the first transatlantic telegraph cable was laid under the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and north America in the 1800s, it was even more revolutionary in its day than fibre optic transmission is now.

A multimillion-euro transatlantic cable system, said to be the most advanced of its type in the world, has landed in Co Mayo with the potential to boost employment in the west of Ireland.

There are still question marks around Ryanair's plans to provide a transatlantic service.