With more than 3 million seats available to North America in 2019, Aer Lingus is delivering on its ambition to become the leading value carrier on the North Atlantic

Aer Lingus today (Thursday, 13th June 2019) welcomed its one millionth transatlantic guest to fly with the airline during 2019.  Laura McGrory and Graham Woods, a recently married couple from Dunleer in Co. Louth, made the milestone trip travelling on flight EI 143 from Dublin Airport to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Aer Lingus is operating its largest ever transatlantic schedule this summer flying to 14 North American destinations, including a new direct service to Minneapolis from Dublin commencing on July 1st. The airline’s longhaul schedule boasts a record 3 million seats to North America in 2019.

On short haul, Aer Lingus’ summer schedule includes destinations such as Perpignan, Pula, Pisa, Palma Majorca and Sicily, and many more. The airline added close to 300,000 extra summer seats to Europe this year, increasing capacity on routes such as Nantes, Milan, Bilbao and Alicante.

Additionally, the airline introduced two new routes from Cork this summer – to Nice in France, a twice weekly service from Cork which commenced in April, and to Dubrovnik in Croatia which commenced in May.

Aer Lingus continues to drive its strategy of expanding the airline’s Dublin Airport base into a major European transatlantic gateway. The airline offers seamless connections from Europe and the UK to its destinations across North America. Connecting via Dublin, Aer Lingus guests can experience the benefit of US Immigration Preclearance before they depart which allows them to arrive into the US like a domestic passenger, avoiding any lengthy queues.

To celebrate the one millionth guest milestone, Laura and Graham were treated to a complimentary upgrade to Business Class and two complimentary Aer Lingus flights to a North American city of their choice.

Mike Rutter, Chief Operating Officer at Aer Lingus said:

“We are delighted to welcome Laura and Graham on board Aer Lingus today, marking our one millionth transatlantic guest so far this year. This milestone comes at a significant time for Aer Lingus, as we work towards realising our ambition to be the leading value carrier across the North Atlantic.  This involves the delivery of new aircraft and new routes, increasing our capacity significantly.  This summer, for example, we’re looking forward to launching our new service from Dublin to Minneapolis–Saint Paul, and to the arrival of the first of our A321neo LRs which are on order from Airbus, and which we believe with revolutionise our long haul offering with the ability to serve long haul destinations with narrow body aircraft.”

Commenting today, Laura McGrory and Graham Woods said:

“It was such a lovely surprise to find out at check-in that we are Aer Lingus’ 1 millionth guest on the transatlantic this year and that we have been upgraded to Business class for our trip to Seattle. We’re heading off on a weeks holiday and this is a fantastic start to our trip. This trip is our second honeymoon as a married couple, which makes it even more special. Thanks so much Aer Lingus!”

For more information on Aer Lingus, please visit www.aerlingus.com.