Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus, as many other airlines around the globe, is looking to power up its operations in coming months. The carrier is hoping to intercept growing demand for air travel on it most lucrative market, transatlantic routes. Therefore Aer Lingus will be launching 2 new flights to the United States in 2024.
Aer Lingus’ 2 New US Destinations
The announcement is quite a significant one for the Irish flag carrier, and IAG member, Aer Lingus. The airline has announced not one but two new long haul routes across the Atlantic Ocean to join the destination network starting summer 2024.
Ireland is the European base for many US multinational companies therefore it makes a lot of sense for Aer Lingus to open connections to 2 of the most important airline hubs in central United States.
The new flights will operate under these numbers:
- EI59 on flights from Dublin to Denver
- EI89 on flights from Dublin to Minneapolis
Also both services will operate initially on a 4 times weekly frequency. However the Dublin to Minneapolis route will become a daily year round service in winter 2024.
Dublin to Denver flights will start on May 17th 2024 with flights available every:
- Monday
- Wednesday
- Friday
- Sunday
Dublin to Minneapolis flights will start on April 29th 2024 with flights available every:
- Monday
- Wednesday
- Friday
- Saturday
The New Flights EI59 and EI89 Schedule
As for the the schedule the 2 flights will be initially similar, with the flights leaving Dublin bound for the US in the afternoon. However let’s take a look at how the schedule of Aer Lingus flights EI59 and EI89 will work.
Flights From Dublin to Denver:
| Flight Number | Departure Airport | Airport Code | Departure Time | Arrival Airport | Airport Code | Arrival Time | Flight Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | EI59 | Dublin | DUB | 16:15 | Denver | DEN | 19:00 | 9h 45m |
| EI58 | Denver | DEN | 20:45 | Dublin | DUB | 12:30+1 | 8h 45m |
Flights From Dublin to Minneapolis:
| Flight Number | Departure Airport | Airport Code | Departure Time | Arrival Airport | Airport Code | Arrival Time | Flight Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EI89 | Dublin | DUB | 14:20 | Minneapolis | MSP | 16:55 | 8h 35m |
| EI88 | Minneapolis | MSP | 18:45 | Dublin | DUB | 08:25+1 | 7h 40m |
The Planes For The New US Flights
Initially the 2 new Aer Lingus US routes from Dublin to Denver and Minneapolis will share the same aircraft type. They will both be served using the carrier’s Airbus A330s. However in October 2024 the Minneapolis flight will switch to the newest most modern planes in the airline’s fleet, the A321neo XLR.
The EI A330s all feature a 2 class configurations with:
- 21/23/30 business class seats in a quite peculiar layout. On most planes have alternating 1-2-2 and 1-2-1 rows while some have a more common, albeit outdated, 2-2-2 layout.
- From 243 to 283 Economy class seats in a 2-4-2 layout.
On the other hand the long range equipped Airbus A321neo cabins feature:
- 16 Business Class flat bed seats. These are the Thompson Aerospace Vantage seat. With rows alternating 2-2 and 1-1 layouts.
- 166 Economy Class seats in a 3-3 layout.
All seats in all cabin have their own personal in flight entertainment screen in front of them. The screen size in business class is 16″ while it is still a very generous 9″.
Aer Lingus’ Other 12 US Destinations
As mentioned Denver and Minneapolis will become Aer Lingus’ 13th and 14th US destinations. Connecting Ireland and Europe to the US is the airline’s core business, hence the extensive destination network. At the moment, prior to the new routes being launched, the airline operates flight to:
- Seattle
- San Francisco
- Los Angeles
- Orlando
- Boston
- Chicago
- Newark
- New York
- Cleveland
- Washington
- Philadelphia
- Windsor Locks
