The four-times-weekly service will depart from Dublin and comes following the delivery of four additional long-haul aircraft to the airline in the last 24 months.

The additional flight will make next summer’s programme the airline’s largest with 177,000 seats available.

The recently launched Miami flight will continue to operate three times a week with a combined flight with Orlando will be the fourth

Washington DC will continue to operate daily for summer but on a larger Airbus A330-300 series aircraft, for four out of seven days, providing 31% additional seats on the route.

Chief operating officer Mike Rutter said: “We are delighted to announce Philadelphia as our new route for summer 2018.

“We are proud to continue to deliver on our promise to grow our transatlantic network and further strengthen Dublin Airport as a leading gateway to North America.

“We are delighted to be delivering on the growth opportunities that being part of International Airlines Group has presented over the past two years.

“The introduction of Philadelphia comes on the back of the four new routes announced in the last two years, namely Los Angeles, Newark, Hartford and Miami. 

 “The future holds bright and interesting prospects for Aer Lingus as eight new Airbus A321 long range aircraft are set to join our fleet in the coming years and by the end of this year, 2017, we will welcome another brand new Airbus A330.”