It is the Irish airline’s 16th American destination and is expected to become a key business route, with the ‘Twin Cities’ home to 17 Fortune 500 companies and notable as a fast-growing tech hub.
The new service is flown by Boeing 757 aircraft initially six times a week but rising to a daily service from August.
“We are delighted to commence Ireland’s first and only direct service to Minneapolis-St. Paul,” says Sean Doyle, Aer Lingus Chief Executive Officer.
“As a destination there is both business and leisure appeal and we’re pleased to report that we are geared up for a busy summer.”
Aer Lingus operates connecting flights from 14 regional flights across the UK, with passengers able to pre-clear US customs and immigrations between flights in Dublin.
The airline says that on this week’s inaugural flight 21% of passengers began their journey to Minneapolis-St. Paul from the UK, with the majority connecting in Dublin from London, Manchester and Edinburgh.
Since becoming part of IAG in 2015 – alongside British Airways and Iberia – Aer Lingus has launched new services to seven US destinations: Los Angeles, Newark, Hartford, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle and now Minneapolis-St. Paul.
It also serves key business destinations such as Boston, Washington and Los Angeles.
