The cast and crew of An Cailín Ciúin; Andrew Bennet who played Seán Kinsella, Kate Nic Chonaonaigh who played Mam, director-producer husband-and-wife team Colm Bairéad and Cleona Ní Chrualaoí, Michael Patric who played Da, Carrie Crowley who played Eibhlín Kinsella pictured with Catherine Clinch (centre) who played the lead role of Cáit.

Aer Lingus flies Irish stars to Hollywood ahead of Oscars

Several members of the cast and crew from Irish Oscar nominated films and their families flew to Los Angeles courtesy of Aer Lingus today for the prestigious awards ceremony in Hollywood.

Those involved in the making of 'An Cailin Ciúin' and 'An Irish Goodbye' along with the family of ‘Aftersun’ nominee Paul Mescal were flown out to Hollywood ahead of the highly-anticipated event next Monday.

Aer Lingus rolled out the red carpet in Dublin Airport for the star-studded flight EI069 to Los Angeles. Among those who travelled was the talented Catherine Clinch from An Cailín Ciúin, alongside her cast members Carrie Crowley, Andrew Bennett, Michael O’Sullivan, and Kate Nic Chonaonaigh, along with director-producer husband-and-wife team Colm Bairéad and Cleona Ní Chrualaoí.

Another Irish actor who is hoping to fly home with the coveted gold statue as cabin luggage is Paul Mescal. Aer Lingus had the pleasure of welcoming Paul’s sister Nell, and his mother and father, Dearbhla and Paul, on board as they flew out to LA today to support the ‘Aftersun’ actor.

Pearce Cullen, producer from ‘An Irish Goodbye’, also received the star treatment as he boarded the flight to join his colleagues who Aer Lingus supported earlier in the week, including actors James Martin and Seamus O’Hara, and directors/producers Ross White and Tom Berkeley.

Aer Lingus Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Donal Moriarty, said: “Aer Lingus is honoured to be able to extend our hospitality and support to our home-grown talent as they and their families come together to celebrate this momentous occasion for the Irish film industry. Here at Aer Lingus we want to make every journey count and today our Oscar nominees are making one of their most important journeys as they travel to LA for this year’s Oscars. Our teams across Aer Lingus will go above and beyond to make it an experience to remember. We wish our Irish stars the very best of luck and hope to have an award or two flying back with us from LA.”

Aer Lingus offers five weekly flights from Dublin direct to Los Angeles, with the flights increasing to daily for summer. This year the airline will operate 16 routes from Ireland to North America, including a new direct flight to Cleveland for the first time and the return of Hartford, Connecticut. Aer Lingus has over 2.25 million transatlantic seats on sale, making it the airline’s largest ever North American summer schedule to date.