Hoteliers Happy With Aer Lingus Route Increase

The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has welcomed an announcement from Aer Lingus that is to provide additional transatlantic services to Ireland from the east coast of America as part of its summer 2013 schedule.An extra 112,000 transatlantic seats from Boston, Chicago and Orlando have been signalled by the national carrier, including the recommencement of services to Shannon from New York and Boston in advance of St Patrick’s Day. IHF chief executive Tim Fenn said that the additional Aer Lingus services will generate increased opportunities to grow overseas visitor numbers from the US, especially with next year’s Gathering taking place.“This is a major announcement for the run up to the Gathering next year and a welcome vote of confidence for tourism businesses given the strategic importance of North American visitors for tourism in Ireland.”Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar was similarly supportive of the news, saying that the increased capacity would both have a positive effect on fares and would help drive visitor numbers to Ireland.