Aer Lingus has launched its largest-ever transatlantic schedule with the expansion of its long-haul network and a new direct service to Dublin from North Carolina in 2026.

Aer Lingus Launches Summer Transatlantic Schedules
Transatlantic growth has been at the heart of Aer Lingus’ priorities over the past four years, with the addition of ten new routes and increased capacity on existing routes. The airline also shared its concern about customer demand and market opportunities to grow and expand long-haul networks.
Aer Lingus launches a new direct service from Dublin to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, North Carolina, which is expected to begin departures in April 2026 and 2will bring the total number of operated routes to North America to a total of 26.
Amongst the introduction of new routes, the airline has announced a restructuring of its existing transcontinental schedule due to popular passenger demands.
For summer 2026, flights from Dublin to New York JFK and Boston will implement a third daily flight with additional late-night departures, allowing convenient and flexible timings for passengers.
The existing long-haul network route, which was launched earlier this year from Dublin to Nashville and Indianapolis, will increase frequency from four weekly flights. The route from Dublin to Orlando will also increase to daily flights next summer.
“We’re delighted to be adding Raleigh-Durham International Airport to our growing North American network. It’s a vibrant and thriving region with well-established links to Ireland, that will be further strengthened with our new direct service.” shares CEO of Aer Lingus, Lynne Embleton.
Connecting long-haul flights from Ireland to North Carolina
The new direct transcontinental schedule route will connect the cities of Raleigh and Durham to Ireland and will be the first time ever that a wider outreach of people will be linked between the two places with Aer Lingus.
The service will also begin in time to serve fans from the University of North Carolina to the 2026 Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin next August. The last Aer Lingus College football attracted 23,000 visitors from the U.S to Ireland.
Will you be flying on the new long-haul network route with Aer Lingus? Let us know in the comments below!