Connecticut governor needs luck o’ the Irish to tie down Aer Lingus deal

Dan Malloy, the Connecticut state governor who is trying to tempt Aer Lingus to open a direct transatlantic route to Hartford county's Bradley airport with a $5 million carrot, may need to whip out his trademark lucky green tie to get a deal over the line.

It emerged this week that Malloy has set aside the cash in his proposed budget as a loss guarantee for Aer Lingus if it opens the route. Connecticut state officials have approached the airline, which is considering their request.

Aer Lingus currently flies into Boston’s Logan airport, which isn’t a million miles from Connecticut, and it also obviously serves New York. So it would be a surprise move were a Bradley Airport deal to happen.

“We have grown our transatlantic network considerably in recent years and are always assessing new potential routes,” said the airline. “The addition of Dublin to Washington in two weeks time is our only confirmed transatlantic route launch this year. There are naturally others under consideration but we have no further announcements to make at this point in time.”

Opposition has already emerged from local Connecticut politicians, who have yet to pass the budget in a vote, with many complaining that Malloy has better things to spend money on. War veterans marched on Wednesday against a proposal in Malloy’s budget that would cut funding for gun salutes at military funerals.

Malloy, a loyal attack dog for US president Barack Obama, often pays homage to his Irish ancestry by wearing green ties. The trend started when he wore the coloured neckwear for the final 13 days of his nail-biting 2010 re-election campaign, and it has since become his trademark.

To get Aer Lingus to fly to Connecticut, he might have to go the whole hog and start wearing a lucky green suit.