Celebrating the inaugural flight of the new Aer Lingus service to Washington DC were Vincent Harrison, Managing Director, Dublin Airport; Declan Kearney, Aer Lingus Director Communications; and Brian Jenson, US Embassy.
The new service, coupled with additional capacity on a number of transatlantic routes, will deliver an 18% increase in services to North America this summer, equivalent to 300,000 extra seats. During the peak summer months 10 airlines will operate 328 flights each week to 15 North American destinations.
Vincent Harrison, Dublin Airport Managing Director, said: “We are delighted that Aer Lingus has started services to Washington DC giving business and leisure passengers greater choice and flexibility between Dublin and the USA this summer.
“We have been working closely with Aer Lingus to increase transfer passengers from Britain and Continental Europe into the USA and this is becoming a significant business for Dublin Airport. US pre-clearance facilities at Dublin Airport means that passengers have a much smoother entry into the States, making onward connections and travel easier.”
Stephen Kavanagh, Chief Executive, Aer Lingus said: “We continue to grow our transatlantic business with the introduction of our direct service to Washington DC. The success of our customer proposition and the development of Dublin as a hub between Europe and North America will see us operate 24 daily departures across the Atlantic this summer. This, together with our extensive European network, offers seamless travel options from our nine US gateways to connections throughout North America and beyond, reinforcing our new brand strategy, ‘Smart flies Aer Lingus’.”
The four times weekly service is the airline’s ninth transatlantic route from Dublin Airport and will operate from May until October.
