Aer Lingus is ramping up service between the U.S. and Eire in a giant manner, with extra flights to main U.S. cities — and an all-new vacation spot on the East Coast.
The Irish flag provider on Wednesday introduced it would launch nonstop flights between Dublin Airport (DUB) and Raleigh-Durham Worldwide Airport (RDU) starting in April 2026.
It will be the airline’s twenty sixth North American route, and can join the Irish capital with North Carolina’s second-largest airport — one which’s rapidly rising its listing of worldwide locations.
New flights between North Carolina and Eire
Aer Lingus’ RDU flights will launch April 13, 2026, and can function 5 instances every week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.
The flights will proceed in the course of the quieter winter months, with one fewer weekly spherical journey.
A nonstop route facilitated by a brand new plane
This new nonstop service between Raleigh and Dublin is Aer Lingus’ newest new path to a medium-size U.S. market, owed partially to the arrival of its latest aircraft: the Airbus A321XLR, an all-new long-range, single-aisle plane able to flying long-haul worldwide routes. Aer Lingus’ A321XLR options 16 lie-flat business-class seats up entrance.
Learn extra: On board the world’s first Airbus A321XLR, the plane that might revolutionize transatlantic journey
Aer Lingus was one of many first carriers on this planet to debut the jet, which additionally helped it launch new flights in 2025 to Nashville and Indianapolis.
Up subsequent: North Carolina’s Analysis Triangle, house to a bunch of main universities — together with the College of North Carolina, which, Aer Lingus identified, will compete subsequent August in a school soccer recreation in Dublin.
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“We’re delighted to be including Raleigh-Durham Worldwide Airport to our rising North American community. It is a vibrant and thriving area with well-established hyperlinks to Eire, that will probably be additional strengthened with our new direct service,” Aer Lingus CEO Lynne Embleton mentioned in a press release Wednesday.
RDU’s quick international growth
Gaining Eire service is the newest massive win on the worldwide stage for Raleigh-Durham.
RDU is my house airport, and I’ve seen the fast development in flights, every day, to worldwide locations. In 2025, airways had been set to supply 62% extra seats to cities exterior the U.S. than two years in the past, in response to knowledge from aviation analytics agency Cirium.
Latest years have seen the airport acquire service from a bunch of latest worldwide airways, together with Air France, Lufthansa, Copa Airways and Aeromexico.
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American Airways continues to supply its each day Boeing 777 flight to London. And low-cost Avelo Airways not too long ago launched Caribbean service from RDU.
Aer Lingus bolsters current US routes
On high of including new North Carolina service, Aer Lingus will even bolster its weekly flying on a number of U.S. routes.
- Indianapolis Worldwide Airport (IND) and Nashville Worldwide Airport (BNA) service to Dublin will run 5 instances weekly in the course of the summer time of 2026 — up from 4 instances weekly in 2024.
- Orlando Worldwide Airport (MCO) flights to Dublin will run each day subsequent summer time.
- Nonstop service from Boston Logan Worldwide Airport (BOS) to Shannon, Eire, will run 10 instances every week in the course of the peak summer time months.
All instructed, Aer Lingus mentioned its summer time 2026 schedule will probably be its largest ever over the Atlantic.
That is after the provider’s U.S. departures in 2025 had been up some 36% over prepandemic 2019, per Cirium.
Reserving Aer Lingus with factors and miles
If you happen to’re hoping to make use of factors and miles to fly Aer Lingus to Eire, there are various choices — even in the event you do not presently have any award forex with the provider.
You may switch American Specific Membership Rewards factors, Chase Final Rewards factors and Bilt Rewards Factors on to Aer Lingus AerClub.
Additionally necessary to notice: The airline shares the identical Avios award forex as British Airways, Iberia, Qatar Airways and Finnair (and others). In case you have Avios with any of these airways, there is a new software that may provide help to switch these Avios proper over to Aer Lingus.
To that very same finish: If you happen to’re a Capital One cardholder, you possibly can switch your miles to British Airways Membership, after which transfer these Avios over to Aer Lingus.
Citi ThankYou Rewards members can do the identical through Qatar.
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