Aer Lingus and United Airlines have expanded their codeshare agreement. Aer Lingus will codeshare on United’s year-round non-stop service between Dublin and Washington/Dulles and seasonal non-stop service between Shannon and Chicago/O’Hare, with a purpose to operate between June 7 and August 27, 2013. United has also recently expanded codesharing with Aer Lingus to incorporate selected Aer Lingus-operated flights between Shannon and London Heathrow.
Aer Lingus already codeshares on selected United-operated flights to 51 cities in the U.S. and Canada. United codeshares on Aer Lingus-operated flights from Dublin, Cork, Belfast and Shannon to London Heathrow, which give convenient connections to and from United-operated flights between Heathrow and its U.S. hubs: Chicago/O’Hare, Houston, L. a., Big apple/Newark, San Francisco and Washington/Dulles. The codeshare agreement has also been expanded to incorporate Aer Lingus-operated flights between Dublin and Manchester and Dublin and Birmingham.
Aer Lingus and United have also signed an agreement on airport lounge access. Effective April 1st 2013, Aer Lingus business class customers travelling via Chicago and beyond on Aer Lingus codeshare flights could have access to 21 United Club lounges at airports including Seattle, L. a., San Francisco and Minneapolis.
Also effective April 1st, United BusinessFirst customers departing on United flights from Dublin to Long island/Newark and Washington/Dulles can have access to Aer Lingus’ Gold Circle Lounge at Dublin Airport.
Commenting at the announcement, Aer Lingus Chief Commercial Officer Stephen Kavanagh said: “Our partnership with United Airlines has gone from strength to strength during the last five years. As well as increased frequency on our services to Chicago and Boston, these enhancements add to the seamless travel options we will be able to now offer customers travelling to and from america and Canada.”
Jim Compton, United’s Vice president and Chief Revenue Officer, said: “We are delighted to improve our relationship with Aer Lingus to create additional benefits for United customers traveling between Ireland and the U.S., from smoother connections to improved lounge facilities. Our 18 peak-season departures per day to the U.S. from London Heathrow, where the vast majority of our operations are co-located with Aer Lingus in Terminal 1, connect well with Aer Lingus flights from the island of eire.