United Airlines has confirmed that it will resume operations on its Shannon to Newark route from March.
Seats have been available to book online for several weeks but the airline was slow to confirm whether services were set to resume.
The carrier said at the time: “Shannon – New York/Newark is available for sale and currently scheduled to resume as a seasonal daily service from 27 March 2022.”
United’s Sales Manager Ireland Martina Coogan said today: “We are delighted to resume our nonstop seasonal services from Ireland to the U.S. The return of our seasonal services provides our customers from Ireland with greater travel choice and convenient one-stop connections via our U.S. hub airports to destinations across the Americas.”
Welcoming the confirmation Mary Considine, CEO of Shannon Group who operate Shannon Airport said: “The restoration of this service is another welcome boost for transatlantic connectivity to our region and the broader west of Ireland.
“United Airlines is a highly valued airline partner of Shannon and we are delighted to have been able to work with them to restore this vital transatlantic service. Its restoration is a vote of confidence by the airline and another major milestone as we continue to rebuild Shannon Airport’s air services and fulfil our role as an economic driver for tourism, business and social connectivity.”
Ms Considine said that, following on from earlier announcements, the United Airlines commitment makes this a hugely significant week for Shannon Airport and the wider region as it bounces back from the impact of the pandemic. “We had the announcement of three new Ryanair services, to Fuerteventura, Birmingham and Budapest, on Tuesday. Earlier today Aer Lingus announced its return on JFK New York and Boston routes next year as well as its Heathrow continuation and now we have United’s commitment on Newark, also servicing the New York market.
“Shannon’s importance to the wider west and, indeed, south of the country in terms of transatlantic services especially, is well understood. We are the only airport on this side of the island of Ireland with transatlantic flights so the return of these services will be widely welcomed. These announcements make this a really positive week for Shannon and the wider region and we build from here.”
Ms Considine continued: “This United Airlines service provides significant onward connections at Newark, which is a huge attraction at Shannon from both an inbound and outbound perspective. Over the past 22 years, this service has brought over 2.1 million passengers to Shannon, which illustrates the importance of this route from both a business and tourism perspective.
“Prior to the pandemic, Shannon’s transatlantic services were well supported and it is important now for people in the region to get behind United’s New York/Newark service to ensure its success,” said Ms Considine.
The Shannon-New York/Newark service will run from 27th March to the 29th October 2022 and will be operated by Boeing 757-200 aircraft, departing daily from Shannon at 12.30pm.