Aer Lingus today commenced its new Shannon to Boston route, marking the return of year-round US services from its mid-western hub.
The new route is part of an expansion of its transatlantic operations which include new routes from Dublin to San Francisco and Toronto, as well as frequency increases on services from Shannon to Boston and New York.
From March 30th, flights between Shannon and Boston will operate daily while flights to New York from Shannon will operate six times a week, the airline said.
Two Boeing B757 aircraft will be based at Shannon, replacing a single Airbus A330 aircraft, to facilitate the new routes.
The airline said the increased frequency will open up additional connectivity to almost 40 cities in North America through its partner airline, Jetblue Airways, allowing passengers to connect to cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Fort Lauderdale, Phoenix, Washington, Orlando and Dallas.
"We are confident that the increased number of flights from Shannon to New York and Boston will bring additional tourists to the Western region and further support the strong international trade links between the region and the United States, " Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller said.
“Our transatlantic capacity will increase by 24 per cent in 2014, following on from a very strong year of growth in 2013,” he added.
Aer Lingus also announced today it will begin a new Malaga service from Shannon at the end of April, through its partner Aer Arann.
The airline’s regional service will also operate a new Bristol route this summer as well as almost double capacity on Manchester and Birmingham services.
