United Airlines has confirmed that it will be offering a nonstop, roundtrip service between Newark Airport in New Jersey and Shannon Airport in Co Clare from next spring.
“Shannon – New York/Newark is available for sale and currently scheduled to resume as a seasonal daily service from 27 March 2022," United Airlines confirmed in a statement to The Clare Echo on Thursday.
A spokesperson for Shannon Group, the parent company of Shannon Airport, told IrishCentral: “We welcome United’s statement that Shannon - New York/Newark is available for sale and currently scheduled to resume as a seasonal daily service from 27 March 2022.
"We have been in constant discussions with United and all our airline partners on the resumption of transatlantic services for 2022. These efforts will intensify as we continue to build back air services and look to restore our connectivity lost to the pandemic.”
The transatlantic route, which first launched in June 1998, was suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic. United later opted not to run the route in 2021, which Shannon Airport said was a "disappointment."
Shannon Airport previously said that United's Newark - Shannon route boasted "strong passenger numbers."
The Clare Herald reports that United will operate a Boeing 757-200 jet on the route, as it has done in previous years.
Clare TD Michael McNamara said on Twitter that the return of United's Newark-Shannon route is "badly needed good news:"
It seems United Airlines are coming back to Shannon Airport in 2022. Bookings are being accepted on the airline's website for flights to and from Shannon and New York/Newark. Some badly needed good news on transatlantic connectivity. pic.twitter.com/120mExZj4q
— Michael McNamara TD (@MlMcNamaraTD) September 15, 2021
Direct commercial US flights have not been operating in or out of Shannon Airport since the start of the pandemic, effectively forcing all US travelers to fly directly into Dublin Airport on the other side of the country, or go through a layover.
While fully vaccinated travelers from the US currently face no restrictions when traveling to Ireland, only US citizens and certain visa holders are currently permitted to enter the US if traveling from Ireland. Ireland's Ambassador to the US Daniel Mulhall has been calling for the end of the travel ban which he says is "damaging relations."
Fully agree with my @EUintheUS colleague that banning fully vaccinated Europeans from entering America is damaging to EU-US relations in so many ways. https://t.co/UaCIodzdJz
— Daniel Mulhall (@DanMulhall) August 31, 2021
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