Pond-hopping passengers from Cheshire West and Chester flying to the States are to lose their easy link through Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
Just 12 months after Aer Lingus Regional launched 15 flights each week between Liverpool and Dublin on a 174-seat Airbus A320 aircraft, it has been announced the flights, operated by Stobart Air, will end on January 5.
Flight times throughout the working week were said to be ‘ideal’ for passengers wanting to conduct a day’s business in Dublin.
But the opportunity for passengers travelling from Liverpool to Dublin to seamlessly connect onto Aer Lingus’ flights to 10 destinations in the States was also expected to prove popular.
Ireland is the only European country to offer the facility to clear US immigration and customs prior to departure for North America meaning that customers travelling to the US via Ireland are seen as domestic arriving passengers.
Described by Aer Lingus at the time as ‘you can arrive before you depart’, this enables people flying to the USA to bypass immigration queues at American airports.
But the move will mean that passengers can no longer connect directly to the airline’s transatlantic flights from Dublin.
Stobart Air said all passengers scheduled to travel on the route after January 5 ‘will be contacted over the coming days and will be accommodated with alternative travel arrangements or offered a full refund’.
A spokesman for Liverool John Lennon commented: “We are naturally disappointed that Aer Lingus Regional have decided to cease operating their flights to Dublin.
“However passengers from across the region can still take advantage of Ryanair’s flights to Dublin with up to four departures a day.”
