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July 30, 2019

New Aer Lingus plane to debut at Bradley Friday

Photo | Contributed An Aer Lingus jet taxiing at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.

Aer Lingus at the end of this week is set to switch out the aircraft that flies a route between Bradley International Airport and Dublin, Ireland, increasing the number of available passenger seats.

Beginning Friday, passengers on the once-a-day route will fly on an Airbus A321LR plane, an update from the Boeing 757-200 planes that currently flies the route, said Kevin Dillon, executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA), which oversees Bradley.

"I think this demonstrates Aer Lingus’ continued commitment to the airport,” Dillon said. “The fact that Bradley is one of the first stations to get this new aircraft … shows how important we are to Aer Lingus.”

Aer Lingus Corp. announced last week the delivery of the first of eight new Airbus A321-200neo LR aircraft, which it is leasing on a long-term basis.

The new plane has 184 seats, Dillon said, seven more than are currently available to passengers, and burns less fuel than the planes being switched out.

Kevin Dillon

“The route is very popular, particularly in the spring and summer months, so certainly those seats are welcome,” Dillon said. “The aircraft is also much more fuel efficient, and it will lead to lower operating costs as well.”

Aer Lingus passenger traffic is up 8.2 percent through the first five months of 2019, with 27,387 passengers departing from or landing at Bradley from Dublin, according to CAA data. The route accounts for just over half the passengers who flew on international flights to or from Bradley in the months of January to May.

In 2018, 82,878 passengers rode Aer Lingus’ transatlantic flight out of Bradley, which is slightly lower than the 2017 passenger count.    

Meantime, Aer Lingus last September committed to keeping its Bradley flight for at least an additional four years.

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2 Comments

Anonymous
July 30, 2019

I wish they were offering free stopovers in Dublin-I'd jump on that.

Anonymous
July 30, 2019

Excellent news! Bradley keeps on getting better.

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