For the past 60 years, Washington’s elite have travelled to the Emerald Isle as Mr. and Mrs. Smith, J.J. and Peggy as Mrs. and Mr. Peabody and Sherman. In the past 10 years, however, travelers in that era have mostly found their way to Dublin courtesy of Air Ireland, a now-defunct carrier that, like rival Finnair, cut back its routes.
The company remains a private company, but its legacy lives on in new versions of the 60-year-old Air Canada Fokker 50s. Regular round-trip fares from Washington to Dublin remain a whopping $2,000. On two recent transatlantic flights, we counted a handful of area connections on discounted packages.
Air Canada is best known as the carrier that merged with Canada’s WestJet in 2016. Up until a few years ago, the company was offering such themed flights as “Winter Wonderland” and “Beach Party,” including inflight entertainment.
Dublin is, of course, a cool place, but any time Europe becomes a popular destination it’s worth checking out the remnants of the swanky, historic German ode to airborne travel, the Réné Armand World-Class Airliner Museum. The museum features 10 World-Class Transcontinental aircraft, including some particularly notable American examples, and is hosting a Vintage Flight Day celebration from Feb. 5 through Feb. 10.