After the opening of U.S. borders to vaccinated foreign travelers, Aer Lingus plans to increase its transatlantic capacity in the coming months, driven by increased passenger demand.

As reported by The Irish Times, Aer Lingus carried more than 1,000 passengers on the first day of the restrictions being lifted from its two flights to New York and one each to Boston and Chicago. The airline expects to recover 60% of transatlantic capacity by the year-end holiday season and 80% by the 2022 summer season compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Aer Lingus currently operates 70 flights per week to the U.S. to major East Coast airports such as New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Boston (BOS), and Washington Dulles (IAD) and in the Midwest to Chicago O’ Hare (ORD). By summer 2022 the airline plans to operate 16 transatlantic routes via Dublin (DUB), Shannon (SNN), and Manchester (MAN), including the resumption of several destinations.

Dublin

From Aer Lingus’ hub in the Irish capital, during the 2022 summer season, it will offer 11 destinations to the United States. Dublin (DUB) is the fifth busiest international destination in the United States. Data obtained through the Department of Transportation (DOT) indicates that 3,379,619 passengers were mobilized in 2019.

The schedule includes:

• New York (JFK)
• Boston (BOS)
• Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
• Newark (EWR)
• Washington Dulles (IAD)
• Orlando (MCO) restarts for November 27, 2021.
• San Francisco (SFO) restarts for December 12, 2021.
• Los Angeles (LAX) restarts for March 11, 2022.
• Seattle – Tacoma (SEA) restarts for April 9, 2022.
• Philadelphia (PHL) restarts for summer 2022.
• Miami (MIA) restarts for early or summer 2022.
• Dublin (DUB) flights will be operated by Airbus A330 and Airbus A321LR aircraft.
• Routes to Minneapolis (MSP) and Hartford (BDL) remain suspended.

Shannon

Aer Lingus resumes transatlantic flights from Ireland’s third-largest airport, suspended since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

By summer 2022 it will offer 14 weekly flights to the United States, including:

• New York (JFK) restarts on March 27, 2022, with daily flights.
• Boston (BOS) restarts on March 10, 2022, with daily flights.

All routes will be operated by Airbus A321LR aircraft.

Manchester

With the launch of its new subsidiary Aer Lingus UK, the company enters the market between the United Kingdom and the United States next December to two destinations:

• Orlando (MCO) starts on December 11, 2021.
• New York (JFK) starts on December 11, 2021.

Aer Lingus UK will have an initial fleet of two Airbus A330-300s and two Airbus A321LRs.

The United States remains a core market for Aer Lingus, which is key to its profitability and growth. Despite the context, they are positive about the recovery of the premium segment.

«There is no doubt in my mind that face-to-face business is infinitely more productive than phone calls or video conferences», said Lynne Emblenton, Aer Lingus CEO. «I am optimistic that the vast majority of business travel will resume» she added.