Ireland: Transatlantic flights carrying fewer than 20 passengers

Passenger numbers from the US to Ireland in recent days have been less than 10% of what would normally be expected at this time of year while a significant number of flights are crossing the Atlantic with fewer than 20 passengers on board. While concerns have grown about the number of US visitors flying into Dublin and subsequently moving around the country despite a spike in Covid-19 cases in many US states and Irish rules mandating a 14-day quarantine period for new arrivals, airport sources say tourist numbers remain very low. Aer Lingus is flying to three destinations in the US – Boston, New York and Chicago – and has kept those routes active throughout the crisis. United Airlines recommenced four weekly flights to Newark on July 7th while American Airlines resumed flights to and from Dallas on July 11th. Numbers on most flights have been less than 20 with not much more than 100 people travelling from the US to Ireland on American carriers over the last seven days. An American Airlines spokeswoman said it had operated two flights from Dallas/Fort Worth to Dublin since resuming service. “The busiest flight we operated only had 8% of the seats occupied,” she said.<br/>