Aer Lingus shrugged off gale-force winds which hit Shannon airport and tipped a stationary turboprop aircraft on its side yesterday to launch a new service to Boston.
The Boston route marks the start of expansion by the airline as it develops the Irish west coast airport as a transfer hub.
Aer Lingus is to base two Boeing 757s at Shannon to replace a single Airbus A330, enabling transatlantic flight frequency to almost double from seven to 13 flights a week.
It also marks the return of year-round transatlantic services by Aer Lingus from Shannon after five years together with increased connections to almost 40 US cities through a partnership with Jetblue from New York and Boston.
The Boston service will run daily, while flights from Shannon to New York will operate six times a week from March 30.
The expanded transatlantic network comes ahead of Aer Lingus and Aer Lingus Regional increasing short-haul services to Shannon this summer.
A total of 10 routes will be offered, including twice-daily flights to Malaga and a daily flight to Bristol.
Flights to Birmingham will double in frequency to two flights a day, while Manchester will gain seven additional weekly services to bring the total up to 20.
Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller said: “We are confident that the increased number of flights from Shannon to New York and Boston will bring additional tourists to the western region and further support the strong international trade links between the region and the United States.
“Our transatlantic capacity will increase by 24% in 2014, following on from a very strong year of growth in 2013.
“Crucially, this expansion will directly support more than 200 jobs in Ireland within Aer Lingus and our partner airline ASL Aviation Group.”
Shannon airport chief executive Neil Pakey added: “Our passengers see not just the return of year-round Aer Lingus transatlantic services for the first time since 2009 at Shannon, but also the near doubling of total frequencies to Boston and New York.
“Our catchment on transatlantic stretches from Cork right up to Donegal so this is a very significant boost for the very large market for services between Ireland and the US.”