Aer Lingus welcomes Open Skies agreement

Aer Lingus has hailed yesterday’s ratification of the Open Skies agreement in Brussels as a momentous development for Irish aviation and has confirmed plans to commence three new long haul services to the US before the end of the year.

San Francisco, Orlando and Washington Dulles will become new Aer Lingus destinations, with services from Dublin to San Francisco expected to start in October. The expansion will increase Aer Lingus' US destinations from four to seven and will lead to significantly increased traffic between Ireland and the US.

Welcoming the confirmation of Open Skies, Dermot Mannion, chief executive of Aer Lingus said:

"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, with the proceeds of the IPO, are financially resourced and strongly positioned to start three new long haul routes to the US before the end of the year. Finally, Aer Lingus can offer the increased choice of US destinations that our customers want and that will contribute to the continued growth of Aer Lingus as a profitable and independent company."