It's a sign of the times that Aer Lingus's new route to Bucharest this week was marked by - a property conference.

Investors, heavy hitters and EU funders heard how the Irish property boom happened, and how Romania might learn and adapt from the Irish experience. Government tax-breaks for developers were suggested, as in Section 23 of the Finance Act, which was claimed to have kick-started the Irish boom, as were the rules of EU funding for the dreaded term "infrastructure and structural funding".

Well attended in one of Bucharest's fabled hotels, once a Ceausescu palace, it was organised and hosted by Bucharest Business Week, the creation of one Sean Hillen, who arrived in the capital 17 years ago from West Belfast via the US. Hillen and his wife, Columbia, now owns several of the country's leading business and other media outlets.

Meantime, the new Aer Lingus route flying Tuesdays and Saturdays is already in receipt of forward bookings from Irish developers looking for local Romanian partners.

Hardly surprising, given the price of urban land is about a fifth of the Irish prices per square metre.