March 25, 2021 / Aer Lingus (EI) officially launched its first ever transatlantic services direct from Manchester (MAN) to the US and the Caribbean. The Dublin-based carrier operations out of the northern England hub had been announced a few months ago, as EI was pursuing a UK Air Operators Certificate (AOC).

Today the airline announced which destinations it will serve from Manchester, when and with which equipment. Starting from July 29, 2021 it will fly to New York Kennedy (JFK) and Orlando International (MCO), adding Barbados (BGI) on October 20 and Boston (BOS) from summer 2022.

Two of the four new routes, New York JFK and Boston, will be operated by the new single-aisle Airbus A321LR, making Aer Lingus the first airline to operate the aircraft on regular scheduled services between the UK and the US. The aircraft features a dual-class layout with 16 fully lie-flat seats in Business Class and 168 seats in Economy Class.

Services to holiday hotspots such as Orlando and Barbados will be operated by a larger Airbus A330-300 aircraft capable of 30 seats in Business and 287 in Economy.

Fares will start from GBP 199 one-way on the MAN-JFK service.

The New York JFK and Boston services will serve 58 onward destinations, with a schedule designed to maximise onward connectivity to exciting destinations such as Las Vegas, Nashville, and Jamaica, and for the first time from Manchester to San Jose, Bermuda and Dallas.

Aer Lingus will create up to 120 job opportunities in the North of England. Recruitment will be predominantly for cabin crew roles, together with additional positions within Maintenance and Engineering, and Ground Operations. (Photo Wikimedia Commons / Natalia Zvereva)