Dublin Airport adds 1.3 million seats to route network

More than 1.3 million extra seats have been added across Dublin Airport’s route network this summer with the introduction of nine new routes

The increase, which comprises four short-haul and five long-haul destinations, represents a 6 per cent increase in capacity compared to last year.

Among the long-haul flights, Aer Lingus will be flying to Miami; Delta Air Lines is starting new services to Boston; and Norwegian Airlines will have new routes to Stewart International, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island, in the US.

Dublin Airport will also welcome a major new airline, Qatar Airways, when it starts its new direct daily route to Doha in the Persian Gulf.

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Dublin Airport managing director Vincent Harrison said the extra capacity would boost tourism throughout Ireland north and south.

The number of additional seats to and from North America is up 23 per cent, with an extra 538,000 seats this year. The peak summer months will see 10 airlines flying 414 flights per week to and from 15 destinations in the US and five destinations in Canada.

Fifth-largest hub

“Dublin Airport continues to be the fifth-largest European airport for connectivity to North America, with only the major hubs of London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt and Amsterdam Schiphol having more routes and flights,” said Mr Harrison.

Overall capacity on existing European routes is set to increase by 7 per cent with more than 785,000 additional seats this summer.

British Airways will start a new service to Ibiza, while Aer Lingus will have flights to Split in Croatia. Norwegian Airlines meanwhile is adding Stockholm to its existing route network from Dublin.

Thomson/Falcon will begin two charter services in June with direct flights to Montego Bay in Jamaica and Cancun in Mexico for a six-week period.

Passengers can choose from more than 180 scheduled destinations from Dublin to 19 destinations in North America, 23 destinations in the UK, 118 destinations in continental Europe and five destinations in both Africa and the Middle East.

More than 5.8 million passengers have travelled through Dublin Airport in the first three months of this year, representing a 5 per cent increase or an extra 260,000 passengers compared to last year.