Irish Airline To Begin Direct Flights From Philadelphia International
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- More options are landing at Philadelphia International Airport to get you to Ireland, and beyond.
The Luck of the Irish will be smiling on you a week after St. Patrick's Day, when Irish airline Aer Lingus initiates a direct route between PHL and Dublin.
Aer Lingus spokesman Declan Kearney says it's a push to further strengthen Dublin Airport as a leading gateway.
"We have doubled the size of our transatlantic business in the last five years," Kearney said.
Its growth surge is driven by point-to-point travel between Dublin and North American cities like Philadelphia, and connecting traffic to European destinations.
"Dublin Airport has jumped up the European League Table of Airports from 11th to 5th position in the last five years," said Kearney.
Aer Lingus has been steadily growing its US route network to places like New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
There will be four flights a week, blocked at about six-and-a-half hours going and seven-and-a-half hours on the return trip. Timing wise, the Aer Lingus 5:30 p.m. departure gets you there just after 5 a.m. the next day, local time.
American Airlines also operates a daily non-stop flight between PHL and DUB. The American flight departs Philly at 9 p.m. and lands around 8:45 a.m. Dublin time.
A quick look-see on roundtrip fares for early April shows $575 on Aer Lingus, and $810 on American.
