Aer Lingus to add three new U.S. cities

Aer Lingus will add San Francisco, Orlando, and Washington, D.C. (Dulles), to its route map later this year, increasing the number of U.S. cities it serves from four to seven. The airline already offers flights from Boston, New York (JFK), Chicago (O’Hare), and Los Angeles to Dublin or Shannon. San Francisco-to-Dublin flights are scheduled to begin in October.

This expansion comes on the heels of the new open-skies agreement between the U.S. and Europe, which promises more flights and cheaper fares when it goes into effect next March.

Though Aer Lingus will introduce its new routes before then, its chief executive commented “Aer Lingus has waited a long time for this momentous day and to be able to fully exploit the potential to significantly grow long haul traffic between Ireland and the US. We are taking delivery of two new A330 long-haul aircrafts this summer and … are financially resourced and strongly positioned to start three new long haul routes to the US before the end of the year.”