Aer Lingus confirms reopening of US route

CIARA O’BRIEN

Aer Lingus has confirmed it will expand its north American routes, reopening its San Francisco route and adding a new route to Toronto from April next year.

The year-round direct service between Dublin and San Francisco will have five services operated very week, with a service to Toronto flying daily during the peak summer period and four times a week in the winter. the company also plans to increase the frequency of its routes to the east coast of the US, adding connections from Shannon to Boston and New York.

The move comes after it was reported on Monday that Aer Lingus was planning to reintroduce the route to San francisco, following assurances from Silicon Valley companies that they would support the services.

The move increases Aer Lingus’s transatlantic services by 24 per cent.

Chief executive Christoph Mueller said the expansion was positve news for both Aer Lingus and the broader economy in terms of business, tourism and employment.

“Our 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,” he said. “San Francisco’s Silicon Valley is home to many of the world’s largest technology companies and several of these companies have European headquarters in Dublin.”

The news was welcomes by Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar.

“This Government has always sought to improve air access to key tourism and business markets, such as the US and Canada,” he 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.”