Aer Lingus Regional’s new service to Leeds Bradford Airport, operated by Stobart Air, has commenced from Dublin Airport.
The airline will operate two daily return flights between Dublin and Leeds and expects to carry 70,000 passengers on the route in 2015.
The Dublin to Leeds route will be serviced by the airline’s newest aircraft which were delivered in June this year and will operate from Aer Lingus’ T2 hub at Dublin Airport.
This is the first time in 14 years that Aer Lingus will operate a Dublin to Leeds service and the schedule has been designed to accommodate a day return for business and leisure passengers, offering convenient morning and evening flights.
Boarding the inaugural flight at Dublin Airport, Mr Julian Carr, Managing Director, Stobart Air said that bookings have been strong since adding Leeds to the Aer Lingus Regional route network earlier this year.
"Over 5,000 seats have been sold on the new Leeds Bradford route and we continue to add key UK destinations to ensure we provide choice, value and convenience for our customers," he said.
"Aer Lingus Regional serves 13 major UK cities from Ireland and are on track to carry 1.31 million passengers this year."
The new route will provide a link to the US through Dublin for Leeds-based passengers who can conveniently connect to Aer Lingus mainline transatlantic services.