New Service to Seattle Takes Off from Dublin

Aer Lingus’ inaugural service to Seattle on the US West Coast took to the skies from Dublin, marking the start of the airline’s 15th transatlantic route

The new four-times-a-week service to the ‘Emerald City’ is the latest destination to be unveiled by the Irish flag carrier, as part of its ambitious expansion plans, focusing on offering unbeatable routes to North America.

Flight EI143 will be operated by an Airbus A330-200 aircraft, named after the Irish saint, ‘Saint Keeva’. The new year-round Dublin to Seattle service will enable guests to choose from 2,218 roundtrip seats every week and marks the start of Aer Lingus’ new interline agreement with Alaska Airlines.

Seattle is the second new transatlantic route to be launched by Aer Lingus for summer 2018, following the successful debut of the four-times-a-week Dublin to Philadelphia service in March. Demand has been so high that from today Aer Lingus has upgraded the route to offer daily flights during the peak summer season.

Mike Rutter, Aer Lingus Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are delighted to commence Ireland’s first and only direct service to Seattle, Washington State, with four direct flights each week.

“Seattle as a destination holds great promise for Aer Lingus given the strong business ties between the two regions making this an important route for business travel as well as leisure trips as exemplified by the high demand for business class tickets on the route to date.

“Our interline agreement with Alaska Airlines means we can offer seamless onwards connections to our guests to 40 additional locations serviced by Alaskan Airlines, including Hawaii and Alaska. It also ensures that we can make Ireland and further into Europe accessible for Alaskan’s 44 million travellers.”

Hot on the heels of San Francisco, Seattle is fast becoming one of North America’s leading tech hubs and is home to multiple global hi-tech giants including Microsoft and Amazon, which have significant operations in Ireland. Aircraft manufacturer Boeing and global coffee company Starbucks started out in Seattle and still have a major presence there today.

Seattle is home to many must-see sights for leisure travellers like the iconic Space Needle and Pike Place Market. Seattle is the birthplace of indie musical giants Nirvana and Pearl Jam, gateway to the wild north west, home to scores of outdoor activities, including skiing, and a prime destination for several major cruise lines.

Summer 2018 marks Aer Lingus’ largest ever long haul programme boasting 2.75 million seats across the Atlantic. In addition to new routes to Seattle and Philadelphia, Aer Lingus’ transatlantic summer schedule also boasts additional capacity across other key routes which include a daily service to both San Francisco and Los Angeles on the US West Coast as well as twice daily flights to Chicago.

Miami, which was launched as a new route in late summer 2017 and subsequently as a new winter sun destination for holiday makers, continues to operate during the summer, three times per week. Together with flights to Orlando, which operates four times a week, Aer Lingus offers direct flights from Ireland to Florida every day for summer 2018. Guests can also fly daily to Washington DC.

news