Aer Lingus announces new US flights to expand long-haul links

Airline is reintroducing Minneapolis-St Paul route, and adding new Denver service

Aer Lingus cabin crew staff member Angela Calinawan; Lynn Embleton, CEO of Aer Lingus; and and cabin crew Ornaith McGuinness at the announcement of a new direct service to Denver, Colorado, and the relaunch of the Minneapolis-St Paul route. Photograph: Naoise Culhane
Aer Lingus cabin crew staff member Angela Calinawan; Lynn Embleton, CEO of Aer Lingus; and and cabin crew Ornaith McGuinness at the announcement of a new direct service to Denver, Colorado, and the relaunch of the Minneapolis-St Paul route. Photograph: Naoise Culhane

Aer Lingus is expanding its links between Ireland and the US with a new direct route to Denver, Colorado, and the relaunch of its Minneapolis-St Paul service from next summer.

The routes will bring to 18 the total of long-haul services operating between Ireland and North America.

The Minneapolis-St Paul flights will begin at the end of April, initially at four times a week before increasing to a daily service year-round in October 2024. Flights between Dublin and Denver will operate four times a week, beginning on May 17th.

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The routes will serve leisure travellers and business connections, with Colorado-based companies such as Level 3 Communications, Otter Products, Webroot, Graebel, Emergentics and Paragon 28 already located in Ireland.

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The new flights are being touted as a measure of the airline’s commitment to its Dublin hub strategy, which not only links the country with North America but also provides connections to Europe.

“With Dublin’s geographic position as the gateway to Europe, pre-clearance facilities at the airport and the strong, long-established Irish-American ties, Aer Lingus is ideally placed to connect people and places across the Atlantic,” Aer Lingus chief executive Lynne Embleton said.

“This summer has been our biggest yet, with 2.25 million seats to North America and the successful addition of Cleveland, Ohio, to our network. We are confident in our growth strategy and look forward to welcoming customers on board these two new routes next year.”

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist