Indianapolis adds flight to Dublin, reestablishing direct flights to Europe

(This story was updated to add new information.)Hoosiers will soon have a direct way to get to Europe again.

Starting in May, Ireland-based airline Aer Lingus will operate a direct flight from the Indianapolis International Airport to Dublin, marking the return of transatlantic travel for the airport since a nonstop Indianapolis-Paris flight was suspended in 2020, the airport announced Monday.

The transatlantic flight will travel both directions, four days a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with a short break during February and January of each year. From Dublin, passengers can connect to 20 other European destinations through Aer Lingus.

“Dublin is an incredibly important connection, but from Dublin, you can get to anywhere… They have Europe covered from one side to the other,” said Indianapolis International Airport Executive Director Mario Rodriguez.

The local business and medical community, particularly Eli Lilly and Co., advocated for the flight to make travel easier to Ireland as companies increasingly import goods from the country, Rodriguez said.

“Not only are we excited, the business community is excited,” said Rodriguez. “We court the airlines, but the business community is the one that took the ball to the goal.”

Pharmaceutical products, such as vaccines and blood, are among the top goods the United States imports from Ireland this year, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

In 2023, Indiana exported more than $756 million worth of goods to Ireland, while importing more than $20.8 billion worth of goods from Ireland, representing almost 25 percent of Ireland’s total exports to the U.S., according to the airport authority.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb joined the announcement Monday virtually while on an economic development trip in Ireland. On a call with reporters later Monday, he specifically noted the relationships Eli Lilly has built in Ireland ― the Indiana company has had sites in Ireland since 1978 and last year built a new $500 million manufacturing site in Limerick.

Having connectivity to the Dublin airport is advantageous in another way, he pointed out: The Dublin airport has United States Preclearance, meaning Americans bound for home can take care of their customs clearance before boarding their flight in Dublin.

“This was like… finding a pot of gold,” Holcomb said. “We were going after this for quite some time.”

The Indiana legislature approved Holcomb’s $10 million request in the 2023-25 budget to allocate toward offering incentives to attract these kinds of direct flights.

Rodriguez said the flights will also cater to “the leisure flyer” through Aer Lingus’ moderately priced options. The airline is the national airline of Ireland and offers multiple class options for transatlantic flights.

Other airline news: Delta Air Lines to add nonstop flight between Indianapolis and Austin in 2025

Aer Lingus expanded its American presence with direct flights out of Denver, Minneapolis and Las Vegas in 2024.

Indianapolis airport and city officials celebrated the launch of a direct flight to Paris by Delta in 2018, which marked a new era of international travel for the city. However, that flight was suspended indefinitely in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic struck and has not returned.

Might the Paris connection come back or could Indianapolis see additional international destinations? Holcomb said the state is “pursuing other connections,” both domestic and international.IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer contributed to this report.

Alysa Guffey covers growth and development for IndyStar. Contact her at amguffey@gannett.com or on X: @AlysaGuffeyNews.