Colorado travelers can now look forward to flying direct from Denver International Airport to Dublin, Ireland starting in May.

It was top of the morning for Mayor Mike Johnston Thursday, announcing an agreement for Irish airliner, Aer Lingus, to now offer direct service from the mountains of Denver to the coasts of Dublin, Ireland — potentially producing $65 million in annual economic impact to Colorado’s economy.

“We want Denver to be a hub for international flights,” Johnston told The Denver Gazette. “We want Denver to be a hub for international businesses looking to open domestic offices… We want to make it easier for people from Denver to want to travel and see the world, and we want to attract a lot more tourists to Colorado. We think the Irish want to come ski, hike and bike — and even go see a Denver Nuggets or Broncos game.”

This is the first new international airliner to come to DIA in more than two years since Air France, according to DIA, which plans for the airliner to make its Denver debut May 17, 2024. Tickets are already on sale via the Aer Lingus website.

The new Aer Lingus service, “Gateway to the Rockies,” to and from Dublin/Denver could generate more than 400 new jobs across the state and inject $25 million in additional wages to metro Denver’s workforce, a press release from DIA/Aer Lingus said.

Ireland airports Aer Lingus travels into are in Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Knock and Shannon, according to the airliners website — but the idea for DIA CEO Phillip Washington is to have expanded global connection initially with Dublin.

“It really proves and shows that Denver is a viable option and that we are expanding our global connections,” he told The Denver Gazette at a Thursday morning press conference on the steps of city hall. Aer Lingus will become the airport’s 24th airliner. It will operate four days a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays), use a 271 seat Airbus A330 aircraft, and offer routes not only between Denver and Dublin, but connections to other European countries.

“Our new Dublin to Denver service will facilitate increased business collaboration between Ireland and Colorado’s thriving industries,” Aer Lingus Senior Vice President of Global Sales Bill Byrne said. “Denver’s growth and technology, renewable energy, aerospace, offer Irish businesses a new avenue to explore and new markets to develop.”

Johnston referenced his Irish roots, in that he is “one of the more than 620,000 Coloradans who share Irish ancestry,” he said. “I was thrilled about the prospect, not just because of my own Irish heritage, but because we know what world economic force Dublin and Ireland are right now. For that direct connection to Denver is a great economic opportunity for us. It puts up new markets for us, and in Ireland it opens up great new markets for them. I think it is a win-win on both ends for tourism and economic development.”

Former Mayor Michael Hancock flew to Dublin in October.

Those traveling from Dublin to Denver will have U.S. Customs taken care of in Dublin, meaning travelers can go straight through DIA domestic arrivals instead of international.

Travelers have been frustrated with the increasing backlog of vehicle traffic on Pena because of all the surrounding development, according to recent media reports. Washington addressed the issue when asked about the potential vehicle traffic of adding another airline to DIA.

“The airport is growing,” Washington said. “We have seen incredible congestion on Pena, we have seen accidents, we want to get the study done so we can understand what options we have out there before we act so the study becomes very, very important.”

“We want to increase the transit mode share, but we also have to realize that not everyone has access to transit all over the region, so we have to consider that as well,” Washington said, adding that Pena Boulevard will take longer than one year when Aer Lingus takes over.

“In that time, we can still advocate for increased transit use between now and then,” Washington said.

Denver now joins over a dozen other city airports within the United States who use Air Lingus, including: Boston, Chicago (O’Hare), Cleveland, Hartford, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Newark, New York (John F. Kennedy), Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C.

The new airliner can lead to other international services being created from Denver, Washington said, with one specific place in mind.

“I see this as we are going to continue taking and expanding those global connections,” he said. “I see a direct flight to the continent of Africa.”