Travellers to the US and Canada can now fly from Exeter Airport, changing planes at Dublin for flights to New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington and Toronto.
It means they can board a flight in Exeter at 9.10am and be in New York in time for dinner the same day.
The Exeter to Dublin flights will be operated by Emerald Airlines, the operator of Aer Lingus Regional, and will connect with Aer Lingus’s transatlantic network from Dublin.
Passengers flying to the US can buy a single ticket which includes baggage transfer and allows them to avail of the US Immigration Pre-clearance at Dublin Airport before they fly.
Dublin Airport is one of only a few airports outside North America with a US pre-clearance facility. Inbound passengers are treated as domestic arrivals in the US, and so avoid any lengthy immigration queues when they land stateside.
One of the passengers on this morning’s inaugural flight from Exeter was Hazel Gillard, who was travelling to Toronto to visit her family. She said: “It’s wonderful - it’s only taken me 10 minutes to get here today. It just takes a lot of the pressure off as you don’t have to worry about getting to Heathrow and staying overnight, which I was having to do before. Now I can relax and look forward to seeing my family.”
Exeter Airport Managing Director, Stephen Wiltshire, said: “We’re thrilled to see the start of flights from Exeter to North America via Dublin. They open up a range of transatlantic destinations and regional air travel to Ireland for leisure and business passengers. We’re also seeing overseas bookings from people in Ireland and North America keen to explore Devon and the South West. So we expect the new route to be a boost for inbound tourism as well.”
Ciarán Smith, Head of Commercial at Emerald Airlines, said: “This is an exciting day for us at Emerald Airlines, as it is the very first time that Aer Lingus Regional will be servicing flights between Exeter and Dublin. We’re delighted to be bringing more choice, convenience, and terrific value for both regional and transatlantic air travel from Exeter Airport and look forward to the success of this route.”
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