Aer Lingus Inaugural Toronto-Dublin Flight Takes to the Skies With Additional Connectivity From Key Canadian Cities With Air Canada

DUBLIN, IRELAND--(Marketwired - Apr 14, 2014) - Aer Lingus recorded two firsts today; the launch of their inaugural flight from Toronto to Dublin and the first operation to Dublin of the Boeing B757 aircraft recently added to their transatlantic fleet.

The new service will operate year-round with a daily service between Toronto and Dublin during the summer season and up to four weekly services operating during the winter. This is fourth transatlantic route launch in recent months and forms part of Aer Lingus' significant transatlantic growth plan in 2014.

The 2014 growth plan includes:

• New routes from Toronto and San Francisco to Dublin
• The addition of three Boeing 757 aircraft to the long haul fleet
• Almost doubling of frequency on services from Boston and New York to Shannon

Aer Lingus customers will have the option to connect via Toronto from eight key cities within Canada including Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary to Dublin as well as onwards connections to over twenty cities in UK and Europe.

Speaking on the occasion of the inaugural flight, Aer Lingus Chief Strategy and Planning Officer, Stephen Kavanagh said, "Aer Lingus is delighted to add a direct service from Canada to its network. Toronto is a very important market in terms of business and tourism links and the city is home to a growing Irish community. The service also opens up connections from key cities within Canada to Dublin and allows for ease of connection to onward flights on Aer Lingus' network to the UK and Continental Europe. We look forward to welcoming new customers on board."

"The introduction of this new service is very important to Toronto. Giving our passengers more choice in accessing this part of the world is something that we know they are looking for," said Howard Eng, President and CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. "This direct daily service between Toronto and Dublin will give passengers great access to Ireland as well as access to the strong Aer Lingus network within Ireland and the rest of the world."

Chief Executive Air Contractors, Colin Grant, said, "We congratulate Aer Lingus on the expansion of their North American services and the launch of this Toronto route that will hugely benefit Irish business and tourism. As an Irish airline, Air Contractors and the ASL Aviation Group are proud to support Aer Lingus with the expansion of the Boeing 757 operation to include Dublin, and we expect the aircraft and the route to be very popular with passengers."

To support the operation of the new routes from Toronto and from New York and Boston to Shannon, Aer Lingus has wet leased three Boeing 757 aircraft from ASL Aviation Group. The aircraft are configured with an economy and business class cabin. Business travellers will continue to enjoy the same great level of service; with gourmet meals, sleeper seats and an extensive in-flight entertainment selection.

About ASL Aviation Group

The ASL Aviation Group, based in Ireland, is a well-established global aviation group providing an unrivalled array of aviation services. The group of aviation companies includes Irish airline Air Contractors and French based airline Europe Airpost as well as two support service companies -- ACLAS Global and Air Contractors Engineering; and various leasing entities. The Group's operations are worldwide with the airlines operating a mixed fleet of wide body, short haul and turboprop passenger and cargo aircraft under their own brands and for a number of leading airlines. ASL Aviation Group has a staff of 1,200, a fleet of ±80 aircraft and generated a total operating revenue of EUR 380m in 2012. ASL is a joint venture between CMB (51%) and 3P Air Freighters (49%).