News Release (14/12/10)
Aer Arann and Aer Lingus have announced a new Aer Lingus Regional route between Bristol and Dublin from next March with onward connection options to the United States.
The next phase of the franchise agreement between the two airlines will see the addition of a sixth Aer Arann ATR 72 aircraft to the Aer Lingus Regional fleet and new services between Ireland and the UK including the new Bristol to Dublin link.
Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Aer Arann, will fly 3 return flights on 6 days each week and 2 return flights on Saturdays between Dublin and Bristol offering new morning, afternoon and evening frequency options for business customers. The 20 weekly return flights will also boost leisure and tourism travel in both directions between the UK South West’s largest city and Dublin.
Bristol currently has no direct services to the United States and the new Aer Lingus Regional route will offer customers the convenience of flying from their home airport with through booking connections to New York, Boston, Chicago and Orlando.
Connecting passengers from Bristol will also benefit from the new US Customs and Immigrations clearance facilities in Dublin allowing them to arrive in the US as domestic passengers.
Aer Lingus Regional already operates from both Cork and Shannon to Bristol and the new Dublin route revives the first ever Aer Lingus route in the airline’s 75th birthday year.
Commenting on today’s announcement Aer Arann Chief Executive Paul Schütz said “the additional aircraft and routes demonstrate the confidence of Aer Arann and Aer Lingus in the franchise flying model that matches capacity and frequency requirements to demand”.
“This new route will extend the successful cooperation between our two airlines and will benefit both business and tourism by stimulating the UK South West to Ireland point to point market with excellent business timings and leisure travel options as well as new easy US connections from Bristol”, Mr. Schütz concluded
Welcoming the announcement the Chief Commercial Officer of Aer Lingus Stephen Kavanagh said “Aer Lingus is delighted to be extending our network into Bristol. This new route marks an expansion of the partnership between Aer Lingus and Aer Arann and we look forward to welcoming customers on board our Bristol to Dublin service and our transatlantic services in 2011.”
Shaun Browne, Aviation Director at Bristol Airport, said “today’s announcement builds on the strong links between Aer Lingus and Bristol Airport, which date back over 75 years. The three-times daily return service will be welcomed by business passengers, with the schedule providing vastly improved flexibility for those travelling to the Irish capital.
Onward connections to four American cities, with transatlantic passengers able to clear US immigration in Dublin’s new terminal, fill a void in Bristol’s route network. The new service creates a convenient option for South West travellers looking to access North America from their regional airport.”
Flights will be operated by Aer Arann ATR 72 aircraft and crew with the first flights on March 27th 2011. Bristol Dublin flights are on sale from today on aerlingus.com and through travel agents with fares to Dublin starting at just £19.99 one way including taxes. Connecting flights to the United States are also on sale from today through travel agents and from January 6th 2011 on
aerlingus.com.