That Irish Independent article (see below) is actually about a really interesting development for people flying between Ireland and the US. Although no start date is given, we will soon be able to pre-clear all immigration and customs checks in Ireland before flying to the US. That means flights from Ireland can pull up at domestic gates rather than the international ones.
It's hard to say how big an advantage this will be to travelers, however. When immigration was transferred to Irish airports, that was a big help - especially for non-US passport holders. I can remember seeing hour-long lines at immigration at Kennedy Airport.
This change doesn't seem to offer the same benefit, unless the luggage transfers are quicker at the domestic gates (I'm mostly thinking of Kennedy here). The only wait I've had upon arrival in recent years is waiting the three quarters of an hour for my bags to appear on the carousel.
But, could this mean that someday flights from Ireland could land at airports that are not normally "international" airports? I'd love to imagine that someday I could fly from Dublin to Albany. Unfortunately, I doubt my custom will be sufficient to warrant regular flights between Albany & Ireland.
