There’s 6 West Coast capable A330s in the EI fleet, 4 x HGW A333s (EI-GAJ, GCF, EIN & EIM) and 2 x A332s (EI-DAA & DUO). These are the only airframes with flight crew rest pod (which can be retrofitted to the A330) and underfloor cabin crew rest pod (which can only be installed at airframe manufacture). These 6 airframes currently operate LAX, SFO & SEA from DUB (the -300s are scheduled to operate LAX & SFO, with the -200s on SEA). The issue is because the total outbound, turnaround and return takes over 24 hours on some of these even without delays, it takes more than 3 airframes to serve these routes. They also need periodic grounding for TLC like any airframe and for efficiency reasons after they land from the West Coast they’ll often do a late ORD/BOS/JFK rotation from DUB.
For EI to operate MAN-LAX/SFO, they’ll need to source one or more additional GE A330s with the underfloor cc rest pod. HGW A330s in this combination are like hens teeth (I’d be surprised if IB were willing to let theirs go so soon). QR used their A330s on medium haul and none of the 3 sourced by EI so far have rest facilities/pods. EI have made no secret that they want to standardise the A330 fleet to -300s. Currently there’s 5 different A330 floor plans in the fleet which is an unnecessary complication when it comes to airframe scheduling or last minute airframe changes when flights are regularly sold out in summer.
MAN-BOS &/or ORD on 321s seems most likely in 2025 at least initially. The first XLR (EI-XLR) is due in Q3 this year and is due to take over DUB-MSP from an A330. The second XLR is due in Q4, with the remaining 4 due in Q1/Q2 2025. Thats a lot of potential for MAN.
Last edited by Una Due Tfc; 16th Jan 2024 at 20:52.