An online petition has been launched to restore a direct airline connection between Newfoundland and Ireland.

Rosemary Flynn, who is from Dublin but lives in Ontario and has a daughter in Newfoundland, hopes to purchase a home in this province and wants her family to be able to visit. That scenario is unlikely without a direct flight.

Both WestJet and Air Canada have discontinued direct flights between St. John’s and Dublin.

Flynn says some 1800 people have added their nameS to the petition.

She says there seems to be a lot of people from St. John’s living in Ireland or people trying to visit Ireland to see family.

Flynn says the flights are needed for a historic value but also for economic reasons.

Flynn says she plans to deliver the petition to government and airlines directly sometime during a visit to the province in late October.