Aer Lingus has today announced its largest ever transatlantic summer schedule for 2026 as well as further expansion of its long-haul network to the US.
The airline is planning to launch a new direct service from Dublin to Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina, in April of next year.
The year-round route will operate up to five times weekly on the airline's new Airbus A321 XLR aircraft.
Aer Lingus has added ten new transatlantic routes in the past four years and with the addition of the new Raleigh-Durham service will operate 26 North American routes next summer.
As well as new routes, Aer Lingus has added additional capacity to its existing routes in response to demand and market opportunities.
For summer 2026 Aer Lingus is introducing a third daily flight from Dublin to both New York JFK and Boston.
The additional flights will have a late evening departure from Dublin and late-night departures from New York and Boston, allowing customers to make the most of their days on both ends of the trip.
Its new routes from Dublin to Nashville and Indianapolis, which launched earlier this year, will both see frequency increased from four weekly flights to five next summer, and Dublin to Orlando will increase to daily flights in peak summer season.
Services from Shannon to Boston will also increase by three weekly flights to ten in peak summer, the airline added.
Lynne Embleton, CEO of Aer Lingus, said that North Carolina is a vibrant and thriving region with well-established links to Ireland, that will be further strengthened with the airline's new direct service.
"In addition to new this new route, our 2026 plans reflect another year of growth with increased frequency on our established network, and more choice for our customers," she said.
"We'll be serving 26 destinations across North America in 2026, reinforcing Aer Lingus as a popular choice for North Atlantic travel," she said.
"We're planning more frequency to popular new destinations Nashville and Indianapolis which launched earlier this year, as well as strengthening our schedule to cities already well established on our network, such as New York, Boston and Orlando," he added.
