Aer Lingus has just revealed its second new long haul route for 2026, after announcing flights to Raleigh-Durham (RDU). I’m a big fan of how Aer Lingus keeps expanding to secondary markets in the United States, since that’s great in terms of connectivity…
Aer Lingus adding Dublin to Pittsburgh route
As of May 25, 2026, Aer Lingus will launch 4x weekly flights between Dublin (DUB) and Pittsburgh (PIT). The route will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, with the following schedule:
EI81 Dublin to Pittsburgh departing 4:10PM arriving 7:10PM
EI80 Pittsburgh to Dublin departing 8:40PM arriving 8:40AM (+1 day)
The 3,444-mile flight is blocked at eight hours westbound and seven hours eastbound. Aer Lingus will operate this route with the Airbus A321LR/XLR, featuring 184 seats, including 16 business class seats and 168 economy class seats. Aer Lingus operates quite a few narrow body flights across the Atlantic, with the A321XLR being Aer Lingus’ newest long haul plane. I recently reviewed this experience in business class.
How this route fits into the competitive landscape
Pittsburgh is a market without much transatlantic service nowadays. British Airways is the only airline offering year-round transatlantic flights to the airport, out of London Heathrow (LHR). Meanwhile Icelandair operates a summer seasonal flight to the airport, out of Keflavik (KEF).
So it’s exciting to see a second year-round transatlantic route. Pittsburgh Airport has been offering major subsidies to airlines that are willing to launch transatlantic service to the airport, so I have to imagine that’s a major consideration there, as it’s something that Aer Lingus consistently chases with its new routes.
As far as Aer Lingus’ destinations in the United States go, the airline otherwise serves Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Cleveland (CLE), Denver (DEN), Hartford (BDL), Indianapolis (IND), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), Minneapolis (MSP), New York (JFK), Nashville (BNA), Newark (EWR), Orlando (MCO), Philadelphia (PHL), San Francisco (SFO), Seattle (SEA), and Washington (IAD). Furthermore, Raleigh Durham (RDU) service launches in April 2026.
What’s funny about Aer Lingus is that the airline belongs to the oneworld transatlantic joint venture, with American, British Airways, Finnair, and Iberia. Despite that, the airline very much seems to do its own thing, and doesn’t have nearly the level of coordination you’ll find among the other airlines. I’m still puzzled by Aer Lingus’ integration into that joint venture, but regardless, it’s always cool to see flights launched in markets like this.
Bottom line
As of May 2026, Aer Lingus will add flights between Dublin and Pittsburgh. This will be the airport’s second year-round transatlantic service, so it’s always nice to see growth like this. Hopefully Aer Lingus finds success here, as the airline has done a great job expanding to secondary markets in the United States.
What do you make of Aer Lingus launching Pittsburgh flights?
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