Aer Lingus launches flights to Seattle
Irish airline Aer Lingus is to launch flights from the Emerald Isle to the Emerald City of Seattle in the USA.
The carrier recently announced its 2018 UK summer schedule, which boasts 3.7 million seats between the UK and Ireland and seamless connections to 13 North American destinations including athe new service to Seattle in Washington State.
The new route represents Ireland’s first-ever direct service to the Emerald City, and will operate four times weekly from 18 May 2018. It also offers connections from 12 UK cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Summer 2018 will see Aer Lingus’ short haul schedule boasting 3.7 million seats, including Aer Lingus Regional services operated by Stobart Air, and serving 25 routes between the UK and Ireland. Mainline services connecting from London, Manchester and Birmingham will enjoy an additional 41,000 seats and between London and Ireland (flying into Belfast, Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Knock) there are a total 1.7 million seats for summer 2018.
Since joining International Airlines Group (IAG) in 2015, Aer Lingus has launched six new direct transatlantic services, marking the largest-ever transatlantic expansion in the airline’s history. Seattle adds 50,000 additional seats to the airline’s transatlantic programme for summer 2018, with total 2018 transatlantic capacity reaching more than 2.75 million seats.
The airline’s transatlantic services offer both business and economy class and give UK travellers the convenience of pre-clearing US Customs and Immigration at Dublin Airport before boarding their flight to North America. From Dublin passengers can enjoy seamless connections to New York JFK, Hartford, Newark, Boston, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orlando, Miami, Toronto and new routes Philadelphia and Seattle.
Stephen Kavanagh, the airline’s CEO, said: “We are delighted to announce our 2018 UK summer schedule which includes Seattle as our latest new transatlantic route. We believe this service will offer great value choices to our UK guests, which boasts connections from 12 key cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
“Since joining International Airlines Group two years ago we have grown and strengthened our Dublin Gateway to North America and we look forward to continuing this development in the years to come.”
The record transatlantic growth has resulted in the creation of 600 new jobs at the airline, which last month launched a pilot recruitment drive to hire 200 pilots over the next three years. Almost 3,000 applications were received for the first wave of 100 positions in October.
The airline’s fleet and employment will expand significantly over the next five years with the acquisition of Airbus A321Neo long-range (LR) aircraft from 2019. This aircraft type will open up new markets for the airline, expanding its network and enabling a new growth phase.
