Aer Lingus targets US gap as its adds 50,000 seats from Birmingham this winter
Irish airline Aer Lingus is adding 50,000 seats to its schedule between Birmingham and Dublin this winter as it aims to pull in passengers bound for the United States.
Birmingham Airport is losing its last direct flights to the USA in October, when United Airlines pulls out. A replacement direct service to the States, to be run by budget carrier Primera, doesn't get off the ground until May next year.
That leaves a gap in the market that Aer Lingus aims to plug, jetting passengers from Birmingham to its major hub in Dublin in just 40 minutes. The Irish airline also runs a service enabling customers to clear US customs and immigration before they leave Dublin.
Most of the new seats will come from Aer Lingus bringing in its bigger Airbus A320 jets on to the Birmingham-Dublin route and extending its six-flights a day service from the summer into the winter season, which runs from November to the end of March.
The 40 per cent boost to its Birmingham service is part of Aer Lingus' biggest ever winter schedule, including direct flights to Miami as well as Los Angeles and San Francisco on the West Coast as it adds 350 transatlantic flights.
Mike Rutter, chief operating officer at Aer Lingus, said Birmingham had grown to become Aer Lingus' third biggest source of transatlantic passengers over the last two years, "and we expect that to grow with the departure of the last direct flights from Birmingham in October."
He added: “This winter is our biggest yet with considerable expansion of our long-haul and European networks.
"The increasing recognition that the Aer Lingus Dublin Hub is the fastest, cheapest and least hassle way to visit North America is underpinned by a further 13 per cent increase in transatlantic seats from Dublin this winter.
"Our 2017 winter short-haul network marks significant investment in key UK routes such as London and Birmingham as well as European cities and winter sun destinations.”
Winter fares from UK to North America will start from £189 each-way including taxes and charges, for travel from November 1 until March 31.
Fares from the UK to Dublin start from £24.99 each-way including taxes and charges.
