The board approved $600,000 for nonstop flights from Cleveland to Dublin

CLEVELAND — p nonstop flights from Hopkins International Airport to Ireland will begin next yearCleveland City Council passed legislation allowing Irish airline Aer Lingus to promote economic development.

The legislation approved at Monday night’s council meeting will provide Aer Lingus with up to $600,000 in economic development funds to start and maintain direct flights from Hopkins Airport to Ireland over three years.

The $600,000 in funding will come from the Urban Development Grant and will go to the NEO team. Jobs Ohio will help with additional funding, and the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, Team NEO and Destination Cleveland will match an additional $2.4 million for the new service.

The official announcement of the new Cleveland – Dublin service on Aer Lingus came out last week. The new flights are scheduled for May 19 with each Aer Lingus aircraft as follows:

• 16 seats in the business class cabin with luxurious dining room and beds
• 168 seats in the economy class cabin with free food and drinks
• All passengers will have access to Wi-Fi and in-flight entertainment

“The primary goal of this project is to restore daily nonstop air service from Cleveland to Europe and make Cuyahoga County a more attractive location for private businesses in Cuyahoga County by maintaining daily nonstop air service to Europe,” the legislation states. .

The last nonstop service from Cleveland to Europe was via WOW Air from Hopkins to Iceland, which ended in 2018. WOW Air the following year it stopped its activities.

As part of the introduction of the service, Aer Lingus will be offering discounted fares from $459 on flights between 19 May and 15 June. However, passengers must book seats by October 19, 2022 to take advantage of the deal.

3News’ Ryan Heidet contributed to this story.