DIA announces Aer Lingus flight to Ireland, adding international city

Colorado travelers will be a nonstop flight away from the lush countryside and rich history of Ireland with the launch of new air service next spring out of Denver International Airport.

The Denver-to-Dublin flight by Aer Lingus, the country’s flag carrier, will take off from DIA four times a week beginning on May 17. The airline says tickets for the late-night redeye flight are already on sale, starting at $699 roundtrip.

New Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, who is among hundreds of thousands of Coloradans with Irish ancestry, celebrated the international flight at a news conference in front of the City and County Building Thursday morning with Denver airport officials and members of the city’s Irish community.

He cited the opportunity for increased tourism — on both sides of the itinerary — as well as the economic impact for Denver.

“Ireland is one of the fastest growing markets in the world — (with) incredible opportunity both in technology and in aerospace, also industries that we share in developing,” he said. “So we think this is an incredible opportunity for us to both grow a commercial relationship with Ireland, as we look to land more international businesses here in Denver, … (and) to connect our businesses here to markets around the world.”

The new flight will expand DIA’s international roster to 28 destinations in 16 countries. The airport offers nonstop service to six other European cities: London; Paris; Zurich; Reykjavik, Iceland; and Munich and Frankfurt, Germany.

Aer Lingus’ flight to Dublin Airport, a major European hub, will enable connections to even more destinations in Europe, said Bill Byrne, the airline’s senior vice president of global sales. And stateside, an advantage for passengers is Aer Lingus’ partnership with United Airlines, DIA’s top-ranked carrier — offering a huge domestic network of connecting flights.

Earlier this week, Aer Lingus teased two new North American flights by sending journalists boarding passes with riddles describing both cities. The airline will serve Denver for the first time and will return to Minneapolis-St. Paul for the first time since the pandemic.

The Denver riddle, hardly veiled, began: “I’m a city that sits high, mile-wise they say …”

Tomorrow morning, looks like @DENAirport and Mayor @MikeJohnstonCO will announce direct service from Denver by Aer Lingus, the flag carrier of Ireland. https://t.co/CyuWliELzf

— Jon Murray (@JonMurray) August 16, 2023

Starting in May, the new flights will arrive from Dublin on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday in the early evenings before departing DIA later each night, crossing the Atlantic before arriving in Dublin around noon local time the next day. Aer Lingus will use an Airbus A330 wide-body plane.