DUBLIN CELEBRATES LAUNCH OF NEW AER LINGUS SERVICE TO MSP

Dublin Airport is celebrating the launch of Aer Lingus’ new direct service to Minneapolis-St Paul in Minnesota.

The airline will utilise Boeing 757 aircraft on the new six times weekly service to Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport (MSP), increasing to a daily, year-round service from this August. 

Dublin Airport's managing director, Vincent Harrison, said the new route will further grow tourism and trade between Ireland the US.  

“This is Aer Lingus’ 14th transatlantic route from Dublin Airport and its 11thnew transatlantic route in the past five years," he enthuses.

“We have been working closely with Aer Lingus since 2014 to grow its North American business and build a substantial transfer business. The new route offers customers significant onward connections in both directions.”

Aer Lingus’ chief executive, Stephen Doyle, says: “We are delighted to commence Ireland’s first and only direct service to Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota State. 

"The Minneapolis-St Paul region holds great promise for Aer Lingus particularly in terms of the connections we can offer to UK and European guests as well as those travelling from North America and onwards to Europe.”

Passengers travelling on Aer Lingus’ new service to MSP will use US Pre-Clearance facilities at Dublin Airport meaning passengers save time on arrival in the US by completing all the necessary immigration and customs checks prior to departure.  

The only queue a pre-cleared passenger encounters on arrival in the US is the taxi queue to their final destination.

This new route means that Dublin Airport now has nine airlines flying 464 flights per week to and from 18 destinations in the US and six destinations in Canada, which equates to an average of 66 flights daily to and from North America.

So far this year, more than 12.3 million passengers have travelled through Dublin Airport, a 7% increase compared to the first five months of last year.