The inaugural Aer Lingus service direct to Seattle, Washington State, has flown from Dublin Airport. Flight EI143 was operated by an Airbus A330-200 aircraft carrying the registration EI-DAA and named Saint Keeva.
The new Dublin-Seattle service will operate four times weekly, year round, with 2,218 roundtrip seats available each week and marks the start of Aer Lingus’s new interline agreement with Alaska Airlines.
Fares from Dublin to Seattle start from €219 each-way including taxes and charges, when booked as a return trip.
Seattle is the second new transatlantic route to be launched by Aer Lingus for summer 2018, the Dublin-Philadelphia service commenced in March. The route has been so successful that from today a daily service will operate during peak summer season.
Mike Rutter, Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are delighted to commence Ireland’s first and only direct service to Seattle, Washington State, with four direct flights each week. Seattle as a destination holds great promise for Aer Lingus given the strong business ties between the two regions making this an important route for business travel, as well as leisure trips, as exemplified by the high demand for Business Class tickets on the route to date.
“Our interline agreement with Alaska Airlines means we can offer seamless onwards connections to our guests to 40 additional locations serviced by Alaska Airlines, including Hawaii and Alaska. It also ensures that we can make Ireland, and further into Europe, accessible for Alaska’s 44 million travellers.”
Seattle the Destination
Hot on the heels of San Francisco, Seattle is fast becoming one of North America’s leading tech hubs and is home to multiple global hi-tech giants, including Microsoft and Amazon, which have significant operations in Ireland. Aircraft manufacturer Boeing and global coffee company Starbucks started out in Seattle and still have a significant presence there today.
For leisure travellers Seattle, known as the Emerald City, is home to must-see sights such as the Space Needle and Pike Place Market and has a noteworthy musical history synonymous with the likes of Nirvana and Pearl Jam, and is the birthplace of Jimi Hendrix. Given its location, Seattle is a launch pad for outdoor activities and its position on the water makes it a prime cruise destination with several major cruise lines departing out of the city.
Largest Ever Transatlantic Network
Summer 2018 marks Aer Lingus’s largest ever long-haul programme, with 2.75 million seats across the Atlantic. In addition to new routes Seattle and Philadelphia, Aer Lingus’s transatlantic summer schedule offers additional capacity across other key routes that include a daily service to San Francisco and Los Angeles on the US West Coast, as well as twice daily flights to Chicago.
Miami, which was launched as a new route in late summer 2017 and subsequently as a new winter route, continues to operate during summer, three times per week. Combined, Miami and Orlando, operating four times weekly, offer a direct connection from Ireland to Florida every day for summer 2018. Washington continues to operate daily for summer but on a larger Airbus A330-300 aircraft, for four out of seven days, providing 31% additional seats on the route.
Aer Lingus 4-Star Guest Experience
Aer Lingus transatlantic guests experience Dublin Airport as a leading transatlantic gateway offering US PreClearance. Unlike at any other European capital, guests travelling from and connecting via Dublin Airport preclear US Customs and Immigration before stepping onboard their transatlantic flight, ensuring a speedy exit on arrival in the USA.
Alaska Airlines Partnership
The commencement of Dublin-Seattle will also mark the beginning of Aer Lingus’s recently announced partnership with Alaska Airlines. Both carriers will operate as part of an interline agreement that will enable Aer Lingus travellers to connect onwards via Seattle to a wide range of destinations up and down the US West Coast, including Alaska and Hawaii, while loyal Alaska flyers will gain the opportunity to fly transatlantic to Ireland and further into Europe. As part of this they can check bags through to their final destination when traveling on Alaska and Aer Lingus and also earn and redeem miles/AerClub points on both carriers.
“More than 800,000 Washingtonians claim ‘Irish’ as their primary ancestry, making this new connection a value in that regard, but also creating links to booming tech industries in both countries and an additional choice to travellers coming and going to Ireland,” said Stephanie Bowman, Port of Seattle Commissioner. “This can be seen as a prize at both ends of the rainbow!”
“We are thrilled to welcome Aer Lingus to our hometown airport and portfolio of Alaska Global Partners,” said Andrew Harrison, Chief Commercial Officer, Alaska Airlines. “Europe is the top choice among Mileage Plan members to earn miles on our airline partners. Having non-stop service from Seattle to Dublin means our members have a new option for earning miles on flights to more than 70 European destinations.”
