It is understood the route, which is expected to operate four times a week, could be officially announced today.

Despite the passenger restrictions at Dublin Airport, the airline is expanding its network to North America.

The company has recently reassessed its capacity, reduced services between Dublin and London Heathrow and also considered reassessing the use of its larger A330 widebody aircraft.

The addition to Indianapolis brings the number of routes served by Aer Lingus to North America to 19, almost all of them to the United States. That figure includes service to Nashville, also starting next year, and service from Dublin to Las Vegas starting this Friday.

Aer Lingus uses aircraft with new technology from Airbus that allow it to operate services on so-called “thin routes” where there may not be the demand that a larger wide-body aircraft would meet.

The airline, part of the IAG Group, which also includes British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, is also certain to receive millions of dollars in incentives from the Indianapolis airport and the local government through direct subsidies and marketing support to launch the route.

It will be the first service to Europe the airport will offer since before the pandemic, when Delta operated a route to Paris. British Airways had considered operating a route to London after the pandemic.

In 2023, Indianapolis International Airport handled nearly 8.7 million passengers, a 12 percent increase over 2022. The only international destinations currently served are Toronto and Cancun.

Aer Lingus has introduced a number of new services to the United States in recent years, including routes from Dublin to Denver and Cincinnati, as well as the reopening of a route to Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Aer Lingus is taking delivery of two new A321XLR jets this year, with more due to arrive next year.