Good to see this getting closer - it was a 'hot rumour' in 2004/5, and one of the obstacles was the c/crew working agreement. Presumably now Iceland has been having a 'spot of difficulty' that has changed a bit. I reckon it could be flown non-ETOPS too which would make life easier.
Who are these flights going to benefit? You can easily pick up a return from LON-NYC for £250. Even if they offered a free fare and pay only for the taxes, surely they cannot get the prices down to less than that??
Even when Zoom touted low cost flights to New York, it was a struggle to get anything for less than £300. Now with traditional airlines offering non-stop flights slashing their prices, is now really the time?
I'm keen to see how the prices will turn out. I believe they are released next week, so I may be back to eat humble pie, but I really cannot see this lasting.
hello there sorry to bother u...do u have any info bout astraeus? roster?pay?conditions in general....hope u can tell me more...passed interview and have to attend course...but would like to know bit more before i decide what to do..thank u
With acknowledgement to John Dyer's 'Gatwick Roundup', the latest rumour on the Aer Lingus gossip is:
"All Aer Lingus operations from Gatwick & Bristol will, from 1/11 for a period of 3 to 6 months, be performed by Astraeus. The same seven Aer Lingus A320s will be used, but all crews will need to attend a five-day course before the end of this month to cross over to Astraeus' standard operating procedures. There will be no changes in appearance among crew or aircraft & the carrier is stressing that this is a temporary measure in order to obtain a UK AOC for a few months while applying for its own. This temporary AOC will also allow Aer Lingus to apply to non-EU countries to start flights from Gatwick, primarily to the USA (Chicago, Orlando or Washington) & possibly South Africa".
Shanwickman. why would you think EI doesn't need an AOC to operate to the US? I thought if you were not registered in the UK with an UK AOC that you couldn't operate outside the EU. And seeing as the flights originate from the UK wouldn't that be the case?
Open Skies though, so it doesn't really mater, an example of another airline, although they have been doing it for years, would be Air India, who fly from UK-USA.
However i think people are getting caught up on the USA part, maybe they do actually have an interest in the mentioned Egypt, Turkey and South Africa, all of which would require them to have a UK AOC.
In the case of FR they bought Buzz and gained their UK AOC that way and may operate from UK to non eu countries.
In EI's case they've piggie backed on Astraeus' AOC and can now do the same as Astraeus also have 1 x A320. EI crew in LGW and BFS are now being trained with the Astraeus AOC and can operate UK to non eu destinations such as Moscow, Agadir, Tunis, Cairo etc but only with A320's NOT A330's. Whether FR's or EI's reg's have EI or G on the tail doesn't matter. Hence Monarch have EI reg aircraft.
Hope I've made that clear as possible.
PS '5th freedom' only occurs when you originate the flight from another country. Besides you're limited in the number of passengers you can pick up in the transit airport.
I am aware of the limitations of the 5th freedom rights, but within Europe the "7th freedom rights" mean that having a UK or Irish AOC makes virtually no difference - for example do FR need a Belgian AOC to operate Charlois - Agadir? Did VLM hold a UK AOC to operate LCY - LPL & MAN?
I still find it a little odd that such a well developed and mature airline who have vast amounts of experience operating for years as a national flag carrier around the globe are now applying for a UK AOC. Is it some way of wrong footing the unions, similar to the botched attempt BA made with Open Skies?
After all the years of their existence why are they just now going down this route?
As for VLM operating LCY to MAN/LPL; that's intra eu so it doesn't matter. It's like EZ operating from Rome to Berlin or FR operating Ciampino to Bergamo for example.
Hope this helps clear a few things up.
Last edited by EISNN : 16th October 2009 at 06:40.
Reason: adding FR routing as further example
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