Aer Lingus Dublin - San Francisco Direct route starting April 2014

lc180

Awesome news! Very surprised it hasn't got much media attention.

Aer Lingus announced yesterday that they starting a 5 times weekly direct route from Dublin to San Francisco in April 2014.

They also confirmed direct flights to Toronto. Read the link for more details.

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/transport-and-tourism/aer-lingus-confirms-reopening-of-us-route-1.1451422

Yamanoto

A direct route into Silicon valley can only be good for business both ways.

Both new North American routes mentioned in yesterdays Telegraph too. Interesting article, with Christoph Mueller pushing Dublin as a more attractive proposition to LHR, particularly for travellers from Scotland & the North of England.

Dublin airport 'an alternative hub to Heathrow', says Aer Lingus

The airline said it experienced a 36pc increase in the number of UK passengers flying to North America via Dublin in June compared to a year earlier, as it announced it is expanding its long-haul transatlantic business.

Aer Lingus, which was recently the subject of a takeover bid by rival Ryanair, carries 100,000 UK passengers a year to destinations in North America on its long-haul flights out of Dublin. But the number is growing as the Irish airport proves an attractive alternative to Heathrow, which is operating at full capacity.

Passengers from the north of England and Scotland who transfer through Terminal 2 at Dublin are able to clear US customs in advance so they avoid large queues when they reach their final destination.

Passengers are also becoming increasingly canny at avoiding Air Passenger Duty by booking single tickets to Dublin and separate long-haul tickets out of Ireland so they only pay the short-haul rate of the so-called “flight tax”. APD is levied on all departures from a UK airport and varies in price depending on the distance flown.

“The further north you live [in Great Britain], the more benefit you have going via Dublin to the US because you save so much time avoiding Heathrow,” said Christoph Mueller, chief executive of Aer Lingus.The airline claims Dublin recently overtook Amsterdam Schiphol as the preferred hub for UK passengers who want to avoid flying via Heathrow to North America.

Aer Lingus is introducing a new route to Toronto from Dublin and will operate five flights a week from the Irish capital to San Francisco.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/10158483/Dublin-airport-an-alternative-hub-to-Heathrow-says-Aer-Lingus.html

FouxDaFaFa

I was very happy to hear this. San Francisco is one of my favourite cities. Hopefully the prices will be reasonable. Or even a few introductory offers.

lc180

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

I was very happy to hear this. San Francisco is one of my favourite cities. Hopefully the prices will be reasonable. Or even a few introductory offers.

One of my favourite cities too so I'm definitely gonna pounce if there is introductory offers!

FouxDaFaFa

Yamanoto wrote: »

Both new North American routes mentioned in yesterdays Telegraph too. Interesting article, with Christoph Mueller pushing Dublin as a more attractive proposition to LHR, particularly for travellers from Scotland & the North of England.

Definitely. Being able to clear immigration on Irish soil rather than going through the dog and pony show on US soil is hugely attractive. I know a few Americans who chose Dublin over London for this reason. Plus, they prefer Aer Lingus to some of the US airlines.

linguist

So would I pay a €300 premium to clear US immigration in Dublin? No bloody way!

The 'introductory' offer comes in just shy of €900 return! I got a week in Los Angeles at the end of October last year for €469 return with KLM. The going rate for return flights from Dublin to San Francisco with a stopover is about €600. It reminds me of what they said when Aer Lingus updated their logo back in the 1990s: 'the dear little shamrock'. Long haul with Aer Lingus is an absolute rip off and this SFO fare is no different.

Now, I admit the standards of customer service on Aer Lingus have improved over the past couple of years but the Irish don't have a monopoly on friendliness or service. KLM were most pleasant for half the price.

lisasimpson

surprised there wasn't a yearly route to Toronto before now

spank_inferno

Will there be Pre-clearence though?

Wasn't there a thread a while back regarding staff / budget cuts on the Dept of Homeland security?
So there are fewer US security staff staying in Dublin.

Net result was that some destinations have pre-clearence (Boston / New York) and some no longer do (Chicago).

Batgurl

Don't Aer Lingus codeshare with United and Air New Zealand?

Or at least have an interline agreement?

This would make a one-stop option to Sydney and Auckland a very tempting proposition!

ANZ get very cheap fares SFO - AKL in my experience.

ProudDUB

spank_inferno wrote: »

Will there be Pre-clearence though?

Wasn't there a thread a while back regarding staff / budget cuts on the Dept of Homeland security?
So there are fewer US security staff staying in Dublin.

Net result was that some destinations have pre-clearence (Boston / New York) and some no longer do (Chicago).

Yep. I remember reading about that too, on more than one thread. I don't remember the reason for it, but there are several Aer Lingus flights that don't pre clear at Dublin. I think they are the Aer Lingus Boston & Chicago routes.

EDIT, found the link on the Aer Lingus website. Click on the Flights that clear US Customs and Immigration in the US tab. It's only from April 2013 to October 2013 though. Am open to correction on this, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had more to do with T2 construction woes/space issue in Dublin Airport, than it does Homeland Security cutbacks.

http://www.aerlingus.com/travelinformation/movetoterminal2atdublin/usimmigration/

Jamie2k9

When Aer Lingus Long Haul traffic has Load Factors of 95% they can afford to be a rip off, supply and demand and all.

ButtersSuki

Last time I flew this route on Aer Lingus before it was withdrawn there was no Pre-Clearance in Dublin. I flew a few times in the last 6 months before it was withdrawn and each time had the joy of queueing in SF airport for about an hour before getting through customs. Not exactly fun after a long enough flight.

One small bonus I will say was that at the time Aer Lingus had no Lounge in Sf so if you were a Gold Circle member or travelling Business Class you got access to the Virgin Lounge - which was nice! Can't imagine they'll invest in a lounge so maybe they'll ressurect this?