Aer Lingus to reopen San Francisco route next April

Aer Lingus is now taking bookings for its Dublin to San Francisco route, which it will reopen on April 2nd, 2014. The airline will fly the route five times a week with an Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

It is understood that technology giants that have their European headquarters in Dublin and their American bases in San Francisco, including Google and Facebook, persuaded the airline to reopen the route.

Flights between Dublin and San Francisco were discontinued in 2009 as Aer Lingus responded to the economic downturn by reducing its fleet.

That decision left no direct route between Ireland and Silicon Valley, one of the most important economic centres for investment in Ireland.

According to the IDA, about 40 per cent of Ireland’s total direct foreign investment comes from Silicon Valley.

The airline is also set to launch a daily Dublin to Toronto route from April 21st next year.