by Dan Callahan
Last updated: 2:50 PM ET, Mon March 26, 2018
Excitement packed Terminal A of Philadelphia International Sunday, as executives from the airport and city as well as travelers welcomed Irish air carrier Aer Lingus to Philly with their first landing and a stunning water cannon salute.
Attendees that joined a sea of green festivities included senior executives from Philadelphia International Airport, Aer Lingus, Tourism Ireland, and multiple City of Philadelphia Officials, including Irish Mayor Jim Kenney.
As the latest international foreign carrier at Philadelphia International Airport, Aer Lingus will offer four weekly direct flights from Philadelphia to Dublin, the first of which took place Sunday. These flights will operate on Boeing 757-200 aircrafts, taking off at 5:35pmEST. The flights incoming to Philadelphia will arrive at 4:15pmEST. Come May, these same direct flights will be offered daily out of PHL through the end of the summer.
"The entire idea behind Aer Lingus is to provide value to the traveler, and with new flights out of Philadelphia, we're now able to bring this value to many more travelers wanting to visit Ireland," said Bill Byrne, VP North America on Sunday.
Byrne also touched on the positive impact Aer Lingus' expansion to Philadelphia has on travel agents. "Before booking trips to Europe, travel agents should check Aer Lingus first. I think they'll find they can now provide their clients a value price-point, a short flight that connects them to Europe and of course, quality Irish hospitality," said Byrne. "Travel agents should really find this as an easy sell."
Aer Lingus originally announced this addition back in October 2017, adding competition to Philadelphia-hub carrier American Airlines, who has been offering direct flights to Dublin since 2003. They are making a hard push to separate themselves from the pack by dubbing themselves "The Aer Lingus Gateway", a nod to their 21 connections from Dublin that travelers will have access to.
Alison Metcalfe, Head of Tourism Ireland North America, is thrilled and eager to inspire travelers from the Philadelphia region to consideration Ireland as their next destination.
"One of the biggest reasons we've had five record years of tourism growth to Ireland from North America has been from direct air access," Metcalfe explained Sunday. "Philadelphia is a very important market, which makes this inaugural flight so exciting."
Just as Aer Lingus executives did on Sunday, Metcalfe also touched on the importance of travel agents ahead of the first landing. "More than one third of travelers coming to Ireland are doing so through a travel agent, so they are extremely valuable to us," said Metcalfe. "We offer everything from specialty training and FAM trips to webinars and workshops, and with Ireland becoming quite a hotspot lately, we're ready to help them meet the demand."
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