Aer Lingus has celebrated its 80 anniversary by starting three new bellyhold US routes to Los Angeles, Newark and Hartford.

Los Angeles began on 4 May, but Newark in New Jersey will commence on 1 September and to Hartford in Connecticut on 28 September.

Aer Lingus chief executive officer, Stephen Kavanagh says: “We are delighted to celebrate 80 years of flying at Aer Lingus. 2016 has been a very exciting year for Aer Lingus so far – we recently commenced our new Los Angeles service and in September our Newark, New Jersey and Hartford, Connecticut services will commence.

“These new routes open up new tourism and business opportunities with improved connectivity through our Dublin Gateway. We are proud of our 80 year history of connecting Ireland to the world and will continue to fly the shamrock high for the next 80 years.”