Originally Posted by
SWBKCB
DJ6 is right, Emerald could operate out of both Dublin and Belfast to the UK using their UK AOC, suspect it's more a case of timing in that the Irish AOC was in motion before the idea of a Belfast base (and thus the need for a UK AOC) came into being.
As an Irish Airline, operating for an Irish Airline with bases in Ireland it makes sense to have a EASA AOC allowing them to operate freely throughout Europe. The problem was the UK - UK flying out of BHD, thats where the need for a UK AOC comes from. If they went solely UK AOC it would cause issues in Dublin / Intra Europe flying... don't forget they offer ACMI services throughout Europe. Having both a UK and EASA AOC means they can offer ACMI to anyone in the UK and Europe now without any issue and operate their scheduled flying without hassle.