Ex Air Madrid MSN054?
Hello all!
There is a rumour over on airliners.net that the ex Air Madrid bird MSN054 will be returning to her original operator, Aer Lingus. 054 joined the Aer Lingus fleet in April '94 as the first Aer Lingus airbus, setting the trend for future EI fleet operations. She flew with the airline for several years under the reg. EI-SHN.
However after a bad year in 2001 with union troubles, a 80% drop in the number of T/A booking (which provided 60% of the airlines revenue), foot and mouth, downturn in the world economy and then throwing 9/11 on top of it all, Aer Lingus was pushed to the edge of existance. However after some quick thinking and a bit of elbow grease, the airline returned to profiablity, as a low cost point to point carrier. In the middle of it all EI T/A services took a hard hit, with EWR and BWI getting the axe (with BWI eventually returning the next year), and with 054 being returned to her leasor.
She found life with Air Algerie and Air Madrid. With the latter now having collapsed a new home is being looked for, for their remaining aircraft. Apparently 054 is waiting for a repaint so she can return to the EI fleet under the new reg. EI-SFO.
Can anyone here enlighten us to some information on the matter?
Any comments appreciated,
Thanks!