Aer Lingus has quietly dropped plans for a new transatlantic route between Manchester and Boston next year.
In March the Irish carrier announced a raft of new long-haul routes from Manchester, including routes to New York JFK, Orlando, Barbados in 2021, and Boston in 2022.
These plans were delayed several times due to US travel restrictions as a result of Covid-19, but flights to Barbados launched earlier this month, while JFK and Orlando will follow in December.
Aer Lingus has now outlined its summer 2022 schedules, but Manchester-Boston is notable by its absence. Business Traveller has obtained the following statement from the carrier:
“Aer Lingus remains committed to providing a Manchester/Boston direct transatlantic service. The commencement date of that service will not be in summer 2022 but remains firmly in the airline’s medium term network strategy.”
In more positive news, Aer Lingus has confirmed plans to reintroduce transatlantic flights from Shannon to New York JFK and Boston from March next year.
According to independent.ie the airline resumed flights between Shannon and London Heathrow in September, its first services from the west Ireland airport since the onset of Covid-19.
In total Aer Lingus will operate 16 transatlantic routes from Dublin, Manchester and Shannon next summer, and 71 routes across its network.
Commenting on the news Reid Moody, chief strategy and planning officer, said:
“This is an ambitious schedule for summer 2022 and an important step for the airline, and the country, as we reconnect Ireland to the world. We know from our customer research that Irish people are very keen to get back flying, and we certainly are looking forward to welcoming them on board again.
“Month by month, we can see more and more people taking to the skies again. We’re confident that the demand is there for travel next year, and that is reflected in our announcement.
“We can assure everyone that we continue to deploy all of our health and safety measures from check-in through to boarding, and on-board the aircraft. We are also delighted to announce the extension of our market-leading book with confidence policy, giving customers the option to change flights for free up to seven days before they fly.”
