Aer Lingus Regional operated by Aer Arann will fly three daily return services between London Southend and Dublin.
London Southend boasts 15 minutes from ‘plane to train’, maximum 4 minutes queuing time to access security, 8 trains per hour at peak times, approx 50 minutes direct railway transfer to London Liverpool Street station, approx 40 minutes direct railway transfer to Stratford (London Olympic Village and London’s financial district).
The addition of the new Dublin-London Southend route means that for the first time, air passengers travelling from the East London/Essex region will able to take advantage of transatlantic connections through Dublin on Aer Lingus flights to New York, Boston, Chicago and Orlando.
Passengers will also benefit from the unique US Customs and Immigrations pre-clearance facilities at Dublin Airport that will allow them to arrive in the US as domestic passengers.
The new route between London Southend and Dublin is expected to boost both business and tourism travel between East London, Essex and Ireland.
Minister Varadkar said: “I am delighted to launch this new London Southend to Dublin Aer Lingus Regional service. Great Britain is of huge economic and tourism importance to Ireland. Enhanced connectivity to the British market, in particular London as its capital city, further strengthens tourism and trade links between the two islands, opening up new routes for tourism and jobs.
“A key feature of this new service is that passengers from London Southend will be able to take advantage of transatlantic connections through Dublin on Aer Lingus flights to the USA and also benefit from the US Customs and Immigrations pre-clearance facilities at Dublin Airport. This is a real benefit to the transatlantic services operated at Dublin Airport.”
