Great news for people traveling from the US to Ireland: Aer Lingus has launched its new route from Washington DC’s Dulles Airport to Dublin.

Yesterday, May 1, marked the inaugural flight (EI 118), an Airbus A330-200, named St. Mella, which took off from Washington Dulles airport at 5:20 pm.

Aer Lingus will operate four flights per week from Washington DC to Dublin as part of its transatlantic growth plan in 2015. This is the airline’s seventh North American transatlantic gateway.

In a further boost to its growing long haul business, the airline is also increasing capacity on other Aer Lingus transatlantic routes for summer 2015, including:

• a daily flight from San Francisco to Dublin, up from the current five weekly

• the introduction of a third daily flight from New York to Dublin from June through August, departing at the early time of 12 noon and returning from Dublin at 7:50 am daily

• an increase in frequency on the Orlando to Dublin route, from three to four flights per week, starting in May 2015

• a 20% increase in capacity on the Boston to Shannon route for twelve weeks in the peak summer period, June through August

• customers can choose from over 70 onward connections across the U.K. and Continental Europe.

Aer Lingus’ Chief Executive, Stephen Kavanagh, greeted the news enthusiastically, saying “We continue to grow our transatlantic business with the introduction of our direct service from Washington. The success of our customer proposition and the development of Dublin as a hub between North America and Europe will see us operate 24 daily departures across the Atlantic this summer. This together with our extensive European network offers seamless travel options from our nine U.S gateways to connections throughout Ireland and beyond, reinforcing our new brand strategy ‘Smart flies Aer Lingus’.”

Christopher U. Browne, Vice President and Washington Dulles International Airport Manager said, “Adding Aer Lingus to Washington Dulles International provides more international options for passengers traveling to and from the Washington, D.C., region. This new service to Dublin continues to expand Aer Lingus’ offerings and destinations from Dulles International to the world, which enables us to continue to deliver world-class service to our traveling public.”

Flights to Dublin from Washington Dulles are available for sale on aerlingus.com with summer fares starting from $999* roundtrip, including taxes and charges.