After a long absence triggered by the pandemic, Irish carrier Aer Lingus plans to resume nonstop service between Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) and Dublin (DUB) in spring 2024.
Aer Lingus is aiming to restart flights to Minneapolis sometime in May 2024, according to airline schedule filings first reported on Enilria.com. The airline plans to fly between its Dublin hub and Minnesota four times a week on an Airbus A330-200. Flights are not currently available for purchase yet.
The airline has not publicly announced the returning route and did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning. A spokesman from the airport told Thrifty Traveler they had no information to share about Aer Lingus's plans.
It's been a long time coming for Minnesotans pining for the return of an easy and cheap way to get to Ireland – or booking a stopover in Dublin en route to somewhere else in Europe. And it's the final major international route from Minneapolis to return after the pandemic.
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The Minneapolis-to-Dublin route launched in summer 2019 to great fanfare, fueled in large part by data from the state’s business community showing lots of unmet demand for a nonstop flight to the Emerald Isle. By all accounts, the route was a smash hit.
Just months later, COVID-19 struck. With international travel demand at zero by the spring of 2020, Aer Lingus shelved the route indefinitely. But even as international travel roared back and Aer Lingus resumed many of its U.S. routes while also adding new cities to its map – including smaller outposts like Cleveland (CLE) – Minneapolis repeatedly missed the cut. The airport's hopes of Aer Lingus returning in 2022 or 2023 were dashed.
But 2024 will be different. Could Aer Lingus have some competition flying to Dublin … from Delta?
Last year, Delta made waves with regulatory filings that showed it was eyeing its own nonstop from Minneapolis to Dublin this summer, perhaps swooping in before Aer Lingus had the chance. But the route never materialized, and Delta has never publicly commented on its plans for connecting its Minneapolis hub and Ireland.
But Aer Lingus's return could bring something that Delta wouldn't: cheaper fares to Europe.
It's not quite a low-cost carrier, but Aer Lingus has made a name for itself with cheap transatlantic fares and a free stopover program, allowing flyers to stop in Dublin for up to seven days on their way to (or back from) somewhere else in Europe. We've seen nonstop Aer Lingus fares to Dublin tumble as low as $320 roundtrip for our Thrifty Traveler Premium members.
Those lower prices could put some much-needed pressure on Delta and its partners KLM and Air France, which dominate the transatlantic market out of Minneapolis. And the widebody plane Aer Lingus intends to fly to Minneapolis – an A330-200 – has a lot of seats for the airline to fill … in both economy and business class, too.
At the front of the plane, Aer Lingus business class is a top-notch way to get to Dublin nonstop, especially if you can snag one of its private “throne seats.” Once flights are bookable, these business class seats should be bookable for 60,000 Avios each way via British Airways or Aer Lingus itself.
Read our full review of Aer Lingus business class!
Dublin is one of a handful of international destinations that has a U.S. customs preclearance facility. That means you can clear customs and immigration before boarding the flight home.
I just returned to Dublin after nearly 4 years this past January/February 2023. That trip started out with 10 days in Germany and Munich and Hamburg before I boarded a Aer Lingus flight to Dublin from Hamburg.
Ireland is a beautiful magical place and it warms my heart to hear that Aer Lingus is finally coming back to our airport of MSP. Even though they didn’t have any real power to control it I was bugging the flight attendants and the Aer Lingus crew on my flight from Hamburg to Dublin. Telling them that we will love their airline to return to our airport, and to pass the word up. I also stopped at customer service and told them the same thing upon my arrival into Dublin airport.
Next year I’m going to Australia, so I won’t be returning to Ireland again on Aer Lingus soon. I just wanted to say I appreciate all the good work you do Kyle because I do have some Aer Lingus credits I have to use by 2027.
Hello Kyle, I just read your article and would like to point out a slight discrepancy,Are Lingus is no longer an “Irish” airline ,it was sold by the Government a number of years ago.
Take care and Thankyou for the lovely article