Aer Lingus’ new Dublin-Washington DC flight on August 6th was the first to operate under the new Open Skies agreement that facilitates granting of new routes between the EU and the United States. Although the pact will not be fully implemented until March of 2008, Aer Lingus has been granted rights for three new routes before the end of this year. Flights to Orlando and San Francisco will be launched in October, bringing the number of US destinations served by the airline to seven. The new flights will provide for 6,200 additional passengers each week on Ireland – US routes. The Irish government obtained the new air rights in advance of other EU airlines. [Read more…]