United’s non-stop flight from Dublin to Washington DC has been really well received by Irish travel agents, according to Yvonne Muldoon, Sales Manager – Ireland, speaking with Irish Travel Trade News in Washington DC. In fact, the carrier is now getting more than 70% of their business from agents.
The carrier has been very active in promoting the route with fam trips, booking incentives and hosting an inbound sales mission from Washington DC that had more than 85 agents attending.
The Washington DC route has really been embraced by the trade, with strong support from the corporate market. The flight offers 16 Business Class seats, as well as 48 seats in Premium Economy, which have an extra five inches of extra space. Leisure bookings have also been growing.
Washington DC is now the fourth largest economy in the USA and is also a superb leisure destination. Many leisure travellers are using the flight to Washington DC as part of a twin cities trip by taking the Amtrak train to New York, then flying back to Ireland from New York – Newark.
The carrier has also noted that 65% of the traffic is using the Washington DC hub for flights to Orlando, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
United will also begin a new non-stop service from Shannon to Chicago in 2013. The first flight is listed for 7th June.
