Aer Lingus’ new Dublin-Cleveland route officially takes off today.
The route will operate four times a week and, as previously announced, will mark the first and so far only direct flight between Europe and Ohio’s second largest city.
It drives forward Aer Lingus’ North American expansion and Dublin Hub strategies and marks the airline’s first brand new transatlantic route since 2019. It also comes coincides with a fresh surge in US demand for European travel.
Aer Lingus’ Dublin-Cleveland route will act as a new gateway between Europe and North America.
Aer Lingus’ transatlantic bookings reflect the strong travel trends and behaviour of US consumers who are returning to Ireland and Europe in strong numbers, buoyed by the strong dollar, personal finances and the complete removal of travel restrictions.
This summer Aer Lingus’ transatlantic bookings are up more than 20% on 2019 and Cleveland flights are already off to a very strong start with more than 90% of seats booked across peak summer season.
Aer Lingus’ standout North American routes include Washington DC, which is seeing a jump in bookings of 40% versus 2019 and now operates double daily from Dublin, along with Orlando, Florida with 35% more bookings which is largely resulting from increased demand from UK and European passengers connecting via Dublin.
Despite inflationary concerns, industry research indicates that travellers are willing to spend more on their holidays which is in line with the bounce-back in demand for premium leisure travel that Aer Lingus bookings confirm. There is significant appetite among Aer Lingus leisure customers for a more luxurious experience reflected in their business class cabin and equally those travelling in economy are upgrading their travel with added extras such as lounge access and fast track.
Aer Lingus’ growth in bookings reflects the US consumer’s desire to travel again, with almost 40% of US consumers eager to travel outside North America and 33% of those having a European destination in mind, with Ireland making their top 10 list of European destinations.
Since 2013 Aer Lingus has grown the number of transatlantic routes it serves from six to 19 in 2023 and the number of transatlantic passengers will have almost tripled in the same timeframe, from 1.1m in 2013 to an expected 3m in 2023.
The airline’s long-haul strategy is also focused on connecting Europe to North America and vice versa due to Ireland’s unique geographic position, along with the advantage of customers being able to clear US Customs and Immigration in Dublin and Shannon airports, removing the requirement to be cleared upon arrival stateside.
Over the past decade, the total number of Aer Lingus transatlantic passengers connecting between Europe and North America, through the airline’s hubs, has increased almost threefold, from 300,000 to 800,000, and in 2022 more than half were travelling from North America. Today, close to 40% of transatlantic passengers connect via Dublin onwards. In 2022, the main connecting UK and European markets were Manchester, London, Paris, Edinburgh and Amsterdam.
Lynne Embleton, CEO, Aer Lingus, said:
“The addition of the new Cleveland route is a further demonstration of Aer Lingus’ commitment to develop Dublin as a hub, a key part of the airline’s growth strategy. At Aer Lingus we are seeing a 20% increase in transatlantic bookings, a strong indicator of the demand amongst US passengers for travel to Ireland and Europe. which is being met by our largest ever transatlantic schedule, delivering over 2.25 million seats this summer.
“At Aer Lingus we are very proud of what we have achieved over the last decade having consistently grown our North American network and we plan to continue on this growth trajectory. Dublin’s geographic position is unique and advantageous for the airline as we can fly to North America operating some of the most sustainable aircraft across the Atlantic. Not only do we serve the very popular destinations such as New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles, our A321neoLR aircraft allow us to provide connections to secondary cities such as Cleveland.
“Our strategy augments direct travel between Ireland and the US with connecting passengers from across Europe.”
