Aer Lingus Inaugurates Year Round YYZ-DUB Service

with Caroline Booth

If there was ever a reason for a lively group of Irish dancers to kick up their heels to the beat of some very joyous fiddle strumming on a Monday afternoon at YYZ's Gate B37, an inaugural flight from Toronto to Dublin would be it.

This was the scene yesterday as officials from the GTAA, Tourism Ireland, Aer Lingus and passengers all gathered to celebrate the airline's new service. The occassion also marked the 1st flight of the Boeing B757, configured with business class and economy class cabins, which was recently added to the EI fleet.

The new route will operate year round with a daily service between Toronto and Dublin during the summer months and up to 4 flights weekly during the winter. This marks the 4th transatlantic launch in recent months as part of an overall expansion plan for Aer Lingus in 2014. Passengers will be able to connect to Toronto from 8 Canadian cities including Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal, and then on to more than 20 cities in the U.K. and Europe.

"Airlines have to follow the market," said Jack Foley, Executive Vice President North America, Aer Lingus. "When looking to expand, we were looking for cities with a corporate market, cargo market and leisure market. The GTAA and Toronto is a perfect match." Foley also mentioned the 80% load factor for this week, which is unheard of for the start of a new service.

"The importance and convenience of service cannot be overstated,” said Alison Metcalfe - Head of North America - Tourism Ireland. “If you cannot get there you cannot grow business. This opens up opportunity for tourism, trade and investment between the 2 countries.”

Tourism Ireland has plans to grow the Canadian market by 20% in the next 3 years and wants to make 2014 a record year of success.

“This is a huge benefit for the Irish community [in Canada] and a huge day for all that worked to achieved this,” added Ray Bassett Irish Ambassador to Canada. Definitely an effort worth kicking up the heels for.