AER LINGUS HAS added new routes as part of a major long-haul expansion, which will see 200 jobs being created.
It announced early this afternoon that it is to begin a year-round service between Dublin and San Francisco, as well as a direct year-round service to Canada from next year.
The plan will see five services between Dublin and San Francisco commence from April 2014, on an Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft.
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said at the launch that a route to Moscow is a high priority for the government, as well as a route to China.
He said that the new routes will mean the restoration of access to the west coast of the United States, which is “really important”.
Canada
The Canadian flights will be direct and will use Boeing B757 between Dublin and Toronto. There will be up to four weekly services operating during the winter.
Two Boeing B757 craft based in Shannon will be used to deliver increased frequency on existing services to Boston and New York, while year-round connections from Shannon to the east coast will be introduced and this will directly support more than 200 new jobs.
Aer Lingus customers travelling via Dublin to Toronto will also have the option to connect to eight cities within Canada, including Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary.
The plan will bring the Aer Lingus long haul schedule to 10 daily transatlantic services.
Christoph Mueller, Chief Executive, Aer Lingus, said that the airline’s transatlantic business “goes from strength to strength”.
He said that the company’s transatlantic capacity will increase by 24 per cent in 2014, following from 13 per cent additional capacity in 2013. In addition, he said that the airline’s operation of the San Francisco route will strengthen Ireland’s ties with Silicon Valley and encourage Ireland’s development as a technology hub for Europe.
Mueller said they are confident that the increased number of flights from Shannon to New York and Boston will bring additional tourists to the Western region.
The increased frequency opens up additional connectivity to almost 40 cities in North America with our airline partners. Very importantly, this expansion will directly support more than 200 jobs within Aer Lingus and our partner airline ASL Aviation Group.
Minister Varadkar said:
More than 40 per cent of Ireland’s total foreign direct investment comes from Silicon Valley alone. The return of the direct air service to the US west coast is particularly important and I’m very happy to see the route being filled by an Irish airline.
In order to support the operation of the new routes, Aer Lingus will lease three Boeing 757 aircraft from ASL Aviation Group.
Eugene Finnegan, Chair of Chambers Ireland’s Air Transport User’s Council, said this is “excellent news for Irish business”.
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