DAA Welcomes New Dublin-Washington DC Route

Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) welcomes today’s announcement by United Continental Holdings that United Airlines will operate a new daily direct Dublin-Washington DC service from next June.

United will fly from Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport to Washington’s Dulles International Airport, which is one of its East Coast hubs, and to more than 80 onward connecting destinations. The new service to Washington will be Dublin Airport’s tenth North American destination and is the third new long-haul service to operate from T2 since the new terminal was officially opened last November.

“We are delighted that United is adding a Washington-Dublin service to its schedule and look forward to working with the airline to help promote this excellent new service on both sides of the Atlantic,” said DAA’s Director of Strategy, Vincent Harrison.

“This new year-round daily service will make Ireland an even more accessible destination for business and leisure travellers from the east coast of the United States and also adds a new direct US destination from Dublin,” according to Mr Harrison. “Direct air access stimulates business between cities and economies and we are confident that this new route will bring significant benefits,” he added.

The transatlantic market at Dublin Airport’s has grown this year, with transatlantic passenger numbers up by more than 6% to just under 1.4 million for the 10 months to the end of October.

United’s new Washington DC service is the third new long-haul route to be launched from T2 since the new terminal opened late last year. US Airways launched a service to Charlotte, North Carolina last May, while Emirates Airline will commence a new daily service to Dubai from January 2012.

Dublin Airport will now offer passengers 10 direct scheduled destinations in North America with services to Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, New York, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington DC.

The new United Airlines Washington service, which will begin on June 8, 2012, will depart Dublin daily at 11:25 and arrive in Washington Dulles at 14:25 local time the same day. The return flight will depart Washington/Dulles daily at 22:02 and arrive in Dublin at 9:55 the following day.

The new service will be operated by a 175-seater Boeing 757-200 aircraft with 16 BusinessFirst class seats and 159 seats in Economy. United Continental Holdings’ Continental Airlines currently operates Dublin-Newark and Shannon-Newark services.