Aer Lingus to commence Dublin service from LJLA with onward connections to US

Hot on the heels of a number of other new route announcements, Liverpool John Lennon Airport is delighted to announce that Aer Lingus will commence flights to Dublin later this year.

The service is due to commence on Friday 23rd October 2015 with 16 flights per week between Liverpool and Dublin on a 174 seat Airbus A320 aircraft. Flight times are ideal for those passengers wanting to conduct a day’s business in Dublin, departing from Liverpool at 08:40 and arriving back at 19:05 throughout the working week.

However, it is the ability for customers travelling from Liverpool to seamlessly connect onto Aer Lingus flights to North America via Dublin airport that is also expected to prove popular. Onward flights are available to destinations including New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington, Orlando, San Francisco and Toronto, with the morning flight from Liverpool timed to enable convenient transfer times for passengers at Dublin Airport of as little as 75 minutes.

Because all parts of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Pre-clearance process are completed at Dublin airport in one quick and easy procedure, Aer Lingus customers clear US immigration and customs before departing to the US. Ireland is the only European country to offer these state-of-the-art facilities and means that customers travelling to the US via Ireland are seen as domestic arriving passengers. Described by Aer Lingus as ‘you can arrive before you depart’, this enables a speedy exit after arriving on the airline’s long haul flights and avoids often lengthy arrivals processing queues.

Aer Lingus also offers Wi-Fi access on board transatlantic flights allowing customers to stay connected with up to date news and work throughout their flight. In addition they have a codesharing agreement with US carriers JetBlue and United Airlines, enabling onward connectivity to over 100 destinations across North America.

This new route will also help to attract more international visitors to the Liverpool City Region, with the potential to grow the numbers of US visitors, currently the second biggest long-haul market.

Aer Lingus have historical links with the Airport and were one of the first airlines to operate from Liverpool almost 80 years ago, having first established air links with the Irish capital in 1936.

Andrew Cornish, CEO of Liverpool John Lennon Airport commented, “This latest route announcement for the Airport is a clear demonstration of our commitment to bring more routes, more airlines and more choice for the region’s travellers.

This route will enhance the Airport’s reputation as a convenient hassle free alternative for business travellers in particular, looking to do business both in Dublin or onward to the US.”

Aer Lingus Chief Revenue Officer, Mike Rutter said “The historic connections between the two cities makes Dublin-Liverpool the perfect choice for Aer Lingus’s first major expansion in Short Haul services for a decade. We believe that we can offer the region both great value flights to Dublin and also access to the fastest growing transatlantic gateway in Europe.

Aer Lingus understands how important global connectivity is to the economy of a region, and with the fast access we can provide to over 100 US & Canadian cities we hope this can help power the economy of Merseyside. We believe that Aer Lingus is the Smart Choice for travel to Dublin and North America and we look forward to demonstrating that to Liverpool consumers.”

Chris Brown, Director of Marketing Liverpool added, “We are keen to capitalise on the city’s American links to bring even more visitors from the US to Liverpool, so having a seamless connection is a big development. Growing our share of the international visitor and investment market is a key objective so this new route will significantly assist us.”

Jenny Stewart, CEO Liverpool Chamber of Commerce commented, “This is another excellent link for LJLA to establish and will greatly increase our connectivity to global destinations. It will be a tremendous boost for local exporters seeking to do business with and in new markets”

Flights to Dublin go on sale today on aerlingus.com with great each way fares, including taxes and charges, starting from;

Liverpool to Dublin, £19.99 one way

Liverpool to New York, Boston and Orlando £229 each way

Liverpool to Chicago £239 each way

Liverpool to San Francisco £299 each way

Liverpool to Toronto £259 each way

Liverpool to Washington £245 each way