Routes Insights: Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Etihad Airways

Aer Lingus, Air Canada and Etihad Airways plan to add new routes from, to and within the Americas region over the coming months.

Dublin-Nashville

Aer Lingus will commence flights between Dublin and Nashville, starting April 12, marking the first-ever direct connection between Ireland and Tennessee.

The service will operate four times per week using the airline’s new long-range Airbus A321XLR aircraft, which is allowing the carrier to open routes to secondary U.S. cities while maintaining competitive operating costs. The airline is also planning to launch a route linking Dublin Airport (DUB) and Indianapolis, the host city for Routes Americas 2019, using A321XLRs in May.

Nashville has a metro population of 2.4 million and is a hub for music and culture, as well as an economy driven by industries like healthcare and technology.

Sabre Market Intelligence data reveals that the Dublin-Nashville market saw approximately 26,000 two-way O&D passengers in 2024, making it the fifth-largest unserved U.S. route from Dublin. Larger unserved markets include North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham (32,500 passengers), Phoenix (31,700), Austin (29,700) and Detroit (27,900).

For Nashville International Airport, Dublin will become the third European destination served, joining British Airways’ flights from London Heathrow and Icelandair’s services from Reykjavik Keflavik. Dublin also ranks as Nashville’s second-largest O&D market in Europe, following London, underscoring the strong demand for a direct connection between the two cities.

However, Aer Lingus will be aiming to attract not only direct passengers but also connecting travelers from the UK and Europe, leveraging the U.S. Pre-Clearance facility at DUB, which allows passengers to arrive in the U.S. as domestic travelers.

Vancouver-Manila

Air Canada is set to launch its first-ever flights to Manila, the capital of the Philippines, this summer, further strengthening its transpacific network from Vancouver.

Nonstop service between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) will begin on April 2, 2025, operating three times a week on Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The frequency will increase to four per week flights in May.

The new route marks Air Canada’s 12^th Asia-Pacific destination from Vancouver, joining cities such as Auckland, Bangkok, Beijing and Singapore. It also taps into the largest Asian market previously unserved by the airline, leveraging growing business ties, tourism demand and Canada’s large Filipino-Canadian community of more than 900,000 people.

Air Canada will face direct competition from Philippine Airlines, which currently operates daily MNL-YVR flights with 777-300ERs. However, the Vancouver-Manila market is significant, with approximately 149,000 annual two-way annual O&D passengers, according to Sabre Market Intelligence.

Abu Dhabi-Atlanta

Etihad Airways will launch a new U.S. route this summer as part of a significant network expansion that includes more than a dozen new destinations.

Starting July 2, the airline will operate 4X-weekly flights between Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport (AUH) and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL), utilizing A350-1000 aircraft.

Atlanta will become Etihad’s fifth U.S. destination, joining Chicago, New York, Washington and Los Angeles. Adding service to the world’s busiest airport positions Etihad to attract business and leisure travelers while also leveraging cargo opportunities between the Middle East and the southeastern U.S.

The new route introduces competition with Qatar Airways, which already operates daily flights between Atlanta and Doha, Qatar, with the same aircraft type. At 7,604 mi. (6,608 nm), the Abu Dhabi-Atlanta route will rank as the third-longest from ATL, following Delta Air Lines’ flights to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa.

Given the limited O&D demand between Abu Dhabi and Atlanta—and the lack of a partnership with ATL’s hub carrier Delta—Etihad is expected to rely heavily on connecting traffic, particularly from South Asia, to sustain the route.