The airline, part of the IAG group that also owns British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Level, will operate flights three times a week to Cancun in Mexico from January until April next year.
The carrier has been expanding its fleet with the addition of Airbus A320XLR jets that have enabled it to grow its route network in North America. It took delivery of two additional XLRs in September, bringing its total XLR complement to five. It will receive a sixth in coming months.
But with demand on the North Atlantic routes from US travellers weak during the winter months, Aer Lingus has to manage excess capacity during that time.
Aer Lingus chief executive Lynne Embleton confirmed that the airline is now looking at more winter sun destinations, and said that bookings for Cancun are performing well.
“Ireland is very seasonal – lots of people want to come to Ireland during the summer, but people don’t really want to come in the winter,” she said.
“So we are looking at how we best use our assets in the winter,” she added. “Part of it is, can we make our costs more bearable? We’re looking at winter sun opportunities.”
“I do have a few others in my mind,” said Ms Embleton. “This opportunity to do more winter sun is quite important. When I think to what happens in the UK, there’s more winter sun goes on amongst consumers in the UK than in Ireland. So maybe we’ve got a bit of education to do.”
An Aer Lingus plane takes off. Stock image: PA
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – Friday, November 7
Competition across the North Atlantic has intensified, putting pressure on yields for airlines including Aer Lingus, which uses Dublin as a hub for travel to and from the US.
Ms Embleton said supply and demand on the North Atlantic is out of sync and that she expects Aer Lingus fares on its North American network to be flat next summer. However, she said the airline will continue to push for IAG to add more aircraft to the Aer Lingus fleet.
While Aer Lingus saw its third-quarter operating profit jump €31m to €170m, the figure was in line with its performance in the third quarter of 2024 when the impact of a pilot strike is stripped out. For the first nine months of the year, it posted a €250m operating profit, compared to €148m in the corresponding period last year.
IAG said that the North Atlantic market saw some softness in US point-of-sale economy leisure sales during the third quarter. That sent IAG shares tumbling as much as 8pc in London on Friday.
Aer Lingus opened new routes from Dublin to Indianapolis and Nashville during the summer. Next April it launches a new route to Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina.
Overall capacity at Aer Lingus expanded 6pc year-on-year in the third quarter. That included a 7pc increase on North American routes and 4pc across European routes.
Ms Embleton said Aer Lingus won’t be hit by restrictions to flight numbers in the US being implemented as a result of the government shutdown there.