Aer Lingus Expands Transatlantic Routes

Aer Lingus have announced a significant expansion to its transatlantic route offering for 2014.

In addition to existing services to Boston, Chicago, New York and Orlando, Aer Lingus will commence a year-round direct service between Dublin and San Francisco from March 2014, with five services per week being operated by Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft.

Aer Lingus will also commence a direct year-round service to Canada.

A daily direct Boeing 757 service between Dublin and Toronto will operate during the summer season, with up to four weekly services operating during the Winter.

A further two Boeing 757 aircraft will be based in Shannon and will be used to deliver increased frequency on existing services to Boston and New York.

Year-round connections from Shannon to the East Coast of the United States will be introduced.

This expansion is being facilitated through the damp lease of three Boeing 757 aircraft from ASL Aviation Group. An A330 aircraft currently based in Shannon will be redeployed to operate the new Dublin to San Francisco service.

Christoph Mueller, Chief Executive, Aer Lingus, said: "Our transatlantic business goes from strength to strength. This expansion is extremely positive news for Aer Lingus and for the broader economy in terms of business, tourism and employment.

"Our transatlantic capacity will increase by 24% in 2014, following on from the 13% additional capacity in our 2013 transatlantic schedule. Very importantly, this expansion will directly support more than 200 new jobs within Aer Lingus and our partner airline ASL Aviation Group".