Minister Ross welcomes new Aer Lingus route to Seattle
17-Nov-2017 The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross TD, has welcomed the announcement today by Aer Lingus of the first ever direct route from Ireland to Seattle to start next year.
Minister Ross said: "This latest announcement of a new route to North America builds on Aer Lingus' successful strategy of expanding its Dublin Airport base into a major European transatlantic gateway. The convenience of U.S. Customs and Border Protection services at Dublin has enhanced the continued growth of Aer Lingus' Dublin operation as a connecting gateway."
Since 2015 Aer Lingus has almost doubled the number of destinations it serves in North America. Seattle will be the sixth new destination since 2015 bringing the total to 13. This has helped create significant additional employment within the airline, but of course also has positive knock on effects for the wider economy and tourism sector.
Seattle will be an important new destination in terms of Ireland's connectivity. It is one of the fastest growing, most dynamic cities in the US and is the home of many household names such as Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft and Starbucks.
In terms of tourism, arrivals from North America were up +18.6% for January to September 2017. The launch of this new service, in time for the busy summer season next year, will help build on that growth. The new service will of course also be very welcome news for Seattle's large Irish community
Source: Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport