Aer Lingus is expanding its North American network from Dublin by returning to Minneapolis-St Paul and adding a new route to Denver, both from summer 2024.
Four-times-weekly flights between Dublin and Minneapolis-St Paul International airport will commence in April 2024, the IAG carrier said on 17 August, before becoming daily in October. Aer Lingus notes that it intends to deploy its incoming Airbus A321XLRs on the route, from winter 2024.
Four-times-weekly flights between Dublin and Denver International airport will launch in May 2024, in what is a new route for the carrier.
Aer Lingus describes the services as being part of a “strategic expansion that reflects the airline’s commitment to its Dublin hub strategy”, through which it also offers connections to Europe.
The routes mean Aer Lingus will soon offer connections to 18 North American cities from its Dublin base.
It previously launched flights to Minneapolis-St Paul in summer 2019, using Boeing 757-200s that were wet-leased from ASL Airlines. The route was dropped when Covid-19 hit early the next year.
IAG placed a firm order for 14 A321XLRs at Paris air show in 2019, with six earmarked for Aer Lingus. Cirium fleets data indicates the Irish carrier is due to receive its first example in mid-October 2024, then three more in 2025 and the remaining two in 2026.
The first A321XLR is scheduled to enter service in the second quarter of next year, but in common with most aircraft programmes coming out of the pandemic, deliveries will be subject to delays.
Aer Lingus currently uses a mixture of A330s and A321LRs for its transatlantic services.