Ireland's Only 4-Star Airline Is Voted 3rd Most-Loved Carrier in Europe

JERICHO, NY--(Marketwired - August 12, 2016) -

• Aer Lingus has been voted the 3^rd most-loved airline in Europe based on customer reviews
• Ireland's national carrier, recently received 4-Star rating from Skytrax, placing it among the top 40 airlines in the world for quality and service

Aer Lingus is delighted to announce that it has been voted the third most loved carrier across Europe. This accolade comes hot on the heels of its recent 4 Star-rating awarded by Skytrax last month, making Aer Lingus not just Ireland's only 4-Star airline, but the only 4-Star airline connecting North America with Ireland.

Air travel review website, Skytrax, asked customers to rate their airline experience across eight categories, including comfort, on-board services, food and beverages, inflight entertainment, on-board Wi-Fi, airport services and value for money. Aer Lingus came third in Europe, with a 70.94% satisfaction score, just behind Greek airline Aegean (80.7%) and German carrier Lufthansa (71.01).

Mike Rutter, Chief Operating Officer said, "We are delighted to be named the third most loved airline across Europe. Since this award is based on reviews, it's an even greater accolade for Aer Lingus to know we're getting it right according to our guests on-board. Over the last two years we conducted in-depth research to hear directly from our guests and better understand their needs which makes for a much more intuitive guest experience.

"Product enhancements such as our new Business Class cabins, inflight entertainment system, on-board Wi-Fi together with Premium Check-in and Express Bag Drop in Dublin are testament to this. This is just the beginning of the journey for Aer Lingus as we continue to grow our short haul and transatlantic networks to be one of the most loved airlines not only in Europe, but across the globe."

2016 is proving to be a standout year for Aer Lingus having recently marked 80 years of flying. In addition, this year sees the airline's largest ever transatlantic expansion take effect. By the end of the summer, Aer Lingus will fly from 10 North American cities on 12 transatlantic routes. The new year-round Los Angeles service began in May and will be closely followed by Newark, New Jersey to Dublin from 1st September and flights from Hartford, Connecticut to Dublin will begin on 28th September.

This growth across the Atlantic sees Aer Lingus operate up to 30 daily transatlantic services this summer offering value to business and leisure customers in an increased number of markets across Europe and North America. Boasting the U.S. Customs and Immigration preclearance facility, Dublin has become a leading gateway and is in fact the fifth largest transatlantic gateway in Europe.

As a value carrier Aer Lingus is committed to delivering to its guests a high quality travel experience at a value price. All Aer Lingus transatlantic fares have the added bonus of being all-inclusive offering free 50lb baggage allowance, complimentary meal and drinks during the flight, not forgetting 120 hours of endless entertainment via the very latest inflight entertainment system.

Aer Lingus passengers can also enjoy US Customs and Border pre-clearance at Dublin and Shannon airport in one quick and easy procedure, ensuring that their arrival into the US is speedy and queue-free.

For more information on Aer Lingus, please visit www.aerlingus.com

For further information on the Skytrax 'Most-Loved Airlines' award, see http://www.airlinequality.com/news/most-loved-airlines-skytrax/

About Skytrax

The Skytrax air travel review website unveiled the Most Loved Airlines based on its customer reviews. With more than 420 airlines worldwide featured, customers rated their flights across eight categories that include seat comfort, onboard services, food and beverages, inflight entertainment, onboard wifi, airport services and value for money. As part of reviews, many customers uploaded photos of their flight experience. Customers scored their overall flight experience using a one-to-ten score, and the Most Loved airline scores are based upon the aggregate of these ratings.