Aer Lingus launches flights to …. Cleveland?

Aer Lingus has announced a new route to the United States, and it won’t be one you expected.

The airline will be flying from Dublin to Cleveland, Ohio from 19th May.

There will be four flights per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday) using an A321LR aircraft. This is a single aisle aircraft which is adapted for long haul flying, and is the same type as I reviewed here when I flew Aer Lingus to New York in July.

Cleveland – with a population of just 400,000 – is an odd choice, especially as Aer Lingus has yet to restart flights to pre-covid destinations such as Minneapolis. You can visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame whilst you’re there, of course.

As Mrs Merton would say, ‘Why did you want to fly to that home of very generous Government grants, Cleveland?’.

Routes Online reports that Aer Lingus will receive an incentive package of $600,000 over a three-year period for operating the service. A partnership comprising Jobs Ohio, the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Greater Cleveland Partnership, Team NEO, and Destination Cleveland will provide a further $2.4 million. Divide $3 million over three years by four flights per week and that’s a handy $5,000 per return trip.

It is arguably good value for a city which has no existing flights to Europe, a factor which undoubtedly hinders inward investment. The last transatlantic carriers to fly there were Icelandair and WOW Air, which both flew to the not hugely convenient hub of Reykjavik in 2018. Continental flew from Cleveland to London in the early 2000s.

Avios availability seems to be good including in Business Class if you’ve wanted to give the A321LR a try. That said, ba.com throws up an error message when you try to book so I can’t give exact details. There is no availability at all via avios.com. It is still early days though.

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