All three markets have previously been served by Finnair with flights to Athens and Malta last operating in summer 2010 and services to Dublin last being flown in summer 2007. The flights will operate through the summer months only but strong performance could result in them being extended to year-round services in the future.
The new Aer Lingus Regional operation will launch on October 23, 2014 and will be flown with 13 weekly services with two flights every day except Saturday when there will be just a single rotation. The carrier expects to carry up to 70,000 customers annually on the new route.
The total traffic for the four days is an increase of 36 per cent over the same period at the end of Eid Al Fitr in 2013, when 133,007 passengers took an Etihad Airways flight.
The airline, like many other low-cost carriers, has been actively studying the launch of long-haul services across the Atlantic and this route is seen as WestJet testing the water before expanding its activities further.
The two new routes stretch from the north of Scotland with a new daily Inverness – Dublin service, to the south of England with a daily Southampton – Hamburg link, both of which will launch from October 26, 2014 at the start of the winter schedules.
Luxair confirms relaunched service has been “widely used by business passengers, notably in the financial sector and fund industry” and was also popular with leisure passengers and Irish citizens living in Luxembourg.
Cambridge is one of the UK’s fastest growing economic cities but its close vicinity to Stansted Airport means it has previously found it difficult to secure and sustain regular air services.
The number of Northern Ireland residents using Dublin Airport increased by eleven per cent to more than 570,000 last year, growing about twice as fast as average passenger numbers at the airport.
As first revealed by The HUB at the end of last month, UK low-fare carrier Flybe is to inaugurate five new routes from London City Airport from the start of the winter schedules in late October 2014.
WestJet Airlines continues to study the introduction of widebody aircraft into its fleet, but an executive of the carrier revealed in this year’s Routes Europe Strategy Summit in Marseille, France that the carrier has never been closer to formalising a deal.
Passenger traffic at Dublin Airport is continuing to grow faster than the European average, building on its strong performance during 2013. Passenger numbers at Dublin are outpacing the total European average and are significantly ahead of the average for airports within the European Union.
Dublin Airport will have 850,000 extra seats available this summer, a five per cent increase in capacity compared to last year. A total of 15 new services, comprising 12 short-haul routes to continental Europe and new long-haul routes to San Francisco, Toronto and St. John’s, Newfoundland will begin in the summer season.
Dublin Airport is set for another record-breaking year for transatlantic traffic in 2014. Last year, a record 1.9 million passengers travelled between Dublin and North America, but this total is likely to be eclipsed this year, with new routes to San Francisco, Toronto and St John’s, Newfoundland.
A report from Airport Coordination Limited (ACL) has revealed that Irish budget carrier Ryanair is planning to lease four Boeing 737-400s to operate on routes from Dublin Airport this summer.
Winter 2014/2015 network growth at London Stansted and Dublin clearly illustrates how Ryanair is adapting its business model and alongside new routes is building frequencies across its network to better serve the business market while also attracting stronger leisure flows.
