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Cleveland Hopkins International Airport announces nonstop service to Dublin

aer lingus announcement
Posted at 4:12 PM, Sep 28, 2022
and last updated 2022-09-28 19:33:37-04

CLEVELAND — Go ahead and pop the shepherd’s pie in the oven and pour yourself a pint of Guinness. Northeast Ohio is about to have a direct line to Dublin, Ireland.

Aer Lingus is coming to town, offering nonstop flights starting May 19, 2023. The announcement happened Wednesday afternoon, complete with bagpipes and plenty of green balloons. The Aer Lingus Chief Strategy and Planning Officer Reid Moody said.

When Moody flew in, it took 13 hours with a layover in Chicago.

"I'm delighted to reveal that from May 19 next year, that same journey will only take 8 hours,” Moody said. The announcement was packed with representatives from the city, Cuyahoga County, the state, and Hopkins Airport, showing it was truly a team effort to put our airport on the map for international travel to Europe.

"When we all work together there is no stopping our potential as a city and as a region and the best is yet to come,” said Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb. This was a deal seven years in the making. The effort really got a boost in 2020 when JobsOhio launched an Air Service Restoration Program, setting aside $10 million per year to lure air carriers to our state.

JobsOhio’s Vice President of Sites and Infrastructure Terry Slaybaugh told News 5, “Neighboring states have been able to attract air service because they had the type of program that JobsOhio started a couple years ago.”

JobsOhio is chipping in on the incentives since airports aren’t allowed to do so themselves. Now with Aer Lingus secured, Slaybaugh says it’ll open a lot of doors to northeast Ohio.

"This will be the only city in the Midwest with Aer Lingus service, outside of Chicago, he said. “So you look at the footprint this creates for Cleveland, regionally, it's going to attract, I think, a lot of interest in Cleveland."

A lot of interest, and a lot of money. The new route is expected to have an $85,000,000 economic impact in its first three years of operation. Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said Ohio tourists aren’t the only ones who will be looking to travel to and from Dublin.

“Intel has 4,900 employees in Ireland,” he said. “You’re going to see that relationship build and I think it will have a benefit for northeast Ohio because as those suppliers are saying, ‘should we locate in Ohio to supply Intel?’ Well, now there’s a flight to Dublin, I think you’re going to see that give northeast Ohio an advantage to continue to see business growth here.”

Dublin is just the beginning of Cleveland’s new connection. Aer Lingus offers service to destinations across Europe including Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Edinburgh.

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