OREANDA-NEWS. SAN FRANCISCO-Mayor Edwin M. Lee is pleased to announce that Irish carrier Aer Lingus will resume service at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) next Spring. The Irish Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar and Aer Lingus Chief Executive Officer Christoph Mueller said today in Dublin that the airline would return to SFO on April 2, 2014, with five flights per week, using an Airbus A330-200 aircraft. “I am happy to welcome back Aer Lingus to San Francisco, the Innovation Capital of the World,” said Mayor Lee. “The ties between the San Francisco Bay Area and Ireland are extraordinary, not only among those with Irish ancestry, but also among the high-growth, innovation industries. We fully anticipate that this flight between SFO and Dublin will be an absolute success.” “We are delighted to announce our direct service between San Francisco and Dublin,” said Aer Lingus North America Vice President Jack Foley. “We believe this direct connection will further cement the strong relationship that exists between Ireland and the San Francisco region. It will drive additional tourism and improve the already strong business ties. California's Silicon Valley is home to many of the world's largest technology companies and several of these companies have European headquarters in Dublin. We look forward to strengthening these ties and to welcoming customers on board in April of next year.” “We are extremely pleased that Aer Lingus has selected SFO as its only nonstop destination to the Western United States, and we look forward to building a strong and successful partnership,” said SFO Director John L. Martin. Since his recent Cork-San Francisco Sister City Mission in early Spring, Mayor Lee and airport officials have been in discussion with Aer Lingus about the possible return of the airline to SFO. Aer Lingus had served SFO from October 2007 until October 2009, when it withdrew due to fleet consolidations. San Francisco is a center of biotechnology, life sciences and pharmaceutical research and development and is home to cutting-edge innovation companies such as Twitter, salesforce.com, Yelp, Yammer, Airbnb and Zynga, with the highly skilled workforce of the 21st Century gravitating to the urban core of San Francisco. Given these trends and the reality that Ireland's economy is strong in these same sectors, coupled with the vibrant Irish community in the Bay Area, SFO was a prime candidate for a new Aer Lingus destination. Current nonstop U.S. destinations for Aer Lingus include Boston, New York, Chicago and Orlando.