Aer Lingus today welcomed a brand new Airbus A330-300 series into its fleet. The new A330 aircraft, named Saint Carthage[1], registration EI-GAJ, has a total capacity of 313 seats, which is made up of 30 business class seats and 283 economy seats. It is scheduled to make its first commercial voyage this afternoon on Aer Lingus flight EI 109 from Dublin to New York JFK.

Aer Lingus, Ireland’s only 4-Star airline, now boasts a fleet of 63 aircraft with 15 of these servicing its longhaul network. The newly-received A330 aircraft represents a significant investment[2] by Aer Lingus in its transatlantic network and this summer it will operate its largest ever transatlantic schedule flying to 11 North American destinations, with a total of 2.5 million transatlantic seats on offer, including a new direct service to Miami from Dublin starting in September.

New route Miami joins Aer Lingus’ existing transatlantic routes Boston, Chicago, New York, Orlando, San Francisco, Washington and Toronto from Dublin and Boston and New York from Shannon, as well as Los Angeles, Newark and Hartford, which commenced last year.

This summer will see Aer Lingus also increase its Los Angeles service to a daily flight for the peak season, Dublin to Orlando will increase to four times per week, and Chicago will also increase to a double-daily service in the same period.

Aer Lingus’ transatlantic growth is an integral element of its successful strategy of expanding its Dublin Airport base into a major European transatlantic gateway. While traditionally Aer Lingus connected Irish residents to North America, today more than a third of Aer Lingus transatlantic guests begin their journey in the UK or mainland Europe connecting via Dublin.

The convenience of U.S Customs and Border Protection services at Dublin has enhanced the continued growth of Aer Lingus’ Dublin operation as a connecting gateway. According to the 2016 league table Dublin Airport is the fifth largest airport in Europe for North American connectivity having jumped from eleventh position in 2010.  

Declan Kearney, Director of Communications, Aer Lingus commented: “The delivery of a new aircraft, particularly an A330, always creates a wave of excitement across the airline and represents a significant investment for Aer Lingus in growth, in our guest experience and in Dublin as our transatlantic gateway. Summer ‘17 will be our busiest on record and the new aircraft will join our longhaul fleet operating 13 routes between Ireland and North America including Miami, where we will begin flying in September. Aer Lingus remains committed to growing our transatlantic network and connecting Ireland and Europe to even more destinations across North America.”

Complementing its longhaul offering, Aer Lingus’ shorthaul summer schedule boasts an additional 100,000 seats to the sun in Europe and includes a new European destination – Split in Croatia, together with greater capacity on key sun routes such as Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Tenerife.

ENDS