ETOPS
BA were kicked out of the regions by the easyJets of the world. They fly the old BA routes at a fraction of the cost with none of the overheads legacy BA had. Best example I heard was when BA bought British Regional, the Jetstream 41 fleet went from moneymaker to lossmaker overnight once it was plugged into the BA cost base. Big Airways were fat, bloated and entitled and charged top dollar, the market said "no thanks" and went all orange instead. Basically LHR was the only place BA could make money back then.
I think the refurbished 10 abreast B777s are actually quite nice, and no different to Emirates or Qatar. Aer Lingus uses an A330 on a DUB-AGP between long hauls for passengers holidaying in Spain, BA do the same with a B777 on LHR-MAD, although mainly for cargo and connections to Iberia long haul so more premium seats are needed.
Do we know what the callsign will be for the G- Aer Lingus fleet?