Most had never been to Ireland, and Aer Lingus, with its distinctive green shamrock logo on every plane, inspired many of them to make the journey.Īer Lingus started with two flights a week out of Logan and flight time was about 12 hours, twice as long as today’s flights. TWA and Pan Am were already flying the Boston-Ireland route, but the arrival of Ireland’s national airline captured the imagination of Boston’s Irish-American population, which accounted for nearly a third of all residents. Aer Lingus’ entry into the Boston market 45 years ago carried a symbolic significance too. The first part of the shamrock was etched in the air on April 28, 1958, when Aer Lingus went from Shannon to New York. ![]() Lemass had been trying for a decade to organize a trans-Atlantic route, envisioning a “shamrock-pattern service plying from Shannon to New York and Boston,” wrote Irish journalist Seamus Malin, reporting for the Boston Globe. ![]() It was Lemass who envisioned the potential for aviation to help modernize Ireland after it broke away from the British Commonwealth in 1948. Four days later, the Bostonians returned, with Irish officials Sean Lemass, the minister for industry and commerce, and Robert Briscoe, the lord mayor of Dublin, in tow. Brendan’s and headed for Shannon Airport. Robert Murphy and Mayor John Hynes boarded a plane christened St. The praise by local officials evoked the first Aer Lingus flight on Oct. Phil Orlandella of Massport, the agency that runs the airport, presented proclamations in praise of Aer Lingus from the governor, mayor, city council and state senate. In addition, Aer Lingus’ current offer of $99 each way from Boston to Shannon, available on its website, keeps pace with the airline industry’s efforts to stay apace of a changing industry.Īer Lingus sales manager Patrick O’Connell and station manager Pauline Vaughan greeted some of their key travel agents in the region, including Jimmy Kelly of Crystal Travel, Dot O’Callaghan of Abbey Travel and Paddy Moroney of Medway Travel. The festive occasion underscored the Irish airline’s strength in the Boston market, as it announced it was increasing winter service out of Logan by 33 percent over last year, scheduling 10 non-stop flights to Ireland a week, according to Aer Lingus spokeswoman Rosemarie Curran. And Aer Lingus staff sliced a giant birthday cake into hundreds of pieces for the crew, airport staff and international travelers passing through Terminal E. The airport’s ground workers greeted incoming Flight 133 with a giant water display. Stepdancers pranced in front of the ticket counter.
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