DUBLIN: Dublin Airport, which has run major marketing campaigns to attract Northern Ireland passengers, has said it is launching 21 new routes in the next few weeks.
The airport said it was introducing 16 short-haul routes to continental Europe.
It is also launching five long-haul connections from Ireland’s main airport to the US airports of Washington, Chicago and LA. There is also a new route to Ethiopia. Dublin Airport said it would be offering 2m extra seats this summer – an 11% increase in capacity on last summer.
Airport managing director Vincent Harrison said: “We are particularly pleased that Dublin will have a direct connection to sub-Saharan Africa this summer, making it easier for our customers to access three continents – Africa, Europe and North America – with Ethiopian Airlines’ new Addis Ababa-Dublin-LA route, as well as direct services to Europe, the Middle East and North America.
Significant increases in seat capacity and frequency on 25 existing routes will give our customers greater flexibility and more options, whether they are travelling for business or leisure purposes, during this summer season.”Dublin Airport has run marketing campaigns to attract passengers from Northern Ireland.
But Belfast International has fought back, adding one-off seasonal routes to Orlando and Las Vegas during the summer.
And last week Belfast International saw the take-off of new flights to Poland, Italy and Czech Republic. Jet2.com will also start connections with Gran Canaria, Italy and Greece from Belfast International later this year.
Belfast City Airport, meanwhile, starts a new route with BA’s sister airline Vueling to Barcelona, next month. Dutch airline KLM is also starting flights to Amsterdam next month from Belfast City.
