Aer Lingus - 5

[en2r]

840

You're correct, the 4 Cork based aircraft have very high utilisation. The last aircraft to leave in the morning is the Heathrow flight at 7.15 and the first aircraft back in the evening is the Amsterdam at 21.30. Turaround times at Cork are mostly only about 40 to 45 minutes so theres little scope to get extra utilisation at the Cork base.

[EI-AAA]

No connection

Sorry if i got up your nose.
I don't work in the airline business at all. I have no idea who the management are.
All my information is well documented in the media.
I just think some staff at EI don't live in real world and had better prepare themselves for some nasty changes. Thinks will not be the same in 2010, for all EI staff.
I hate to think of only having FR operating ex DUB.We need a strong customer friendly airline to serve the country proudly.

[EI-RB]

LGW_08R

Thanks for that LGW_08R you have been very helpful.

840

I consider 6 (3rtn) flights a day to be poor utilisation. Thats my opinion and I would not invest in an airline achieving poor aircraft utilisation given the capital intensive nature of the business. Hopefully Mueller will bring some badly needed German efficiency into the airline.

[Cyrano]

Originally Posted by EI-RB

I consider 6 (3rtn) flights a day to be poor utilisation.

Now don't hold back, EI-RB, tell us what you think!

I guess that means that for you Emirates, Singapore etc just have really poor utilisation of their aircraft. Unless of course...sector length maybe has an impact on number of sectors flown? No - surely not?

I'd tend to look at block hours per aircraft per day as a more accurate single measure of utilisation (utilisation as "intensity of sweating the asset") than number of sectors, which is entirely dependent on the particular route structure. Maybe an airline can generate more revenue from 8 short sectors than 6 long sectors, maybe not. Some of its direct operating costs are definitely going to be higher flying 8 rather than 6 sectors, though. I don't think it's possible to simplistically say "8 sectors good, 6 sectors bad."

[Tom the Tenor]

You make a great advocate, Cyrano. We must fix you up with a Tribunal of Inquiry or something like that!

[TartinTon]

EI-RB....I'm no particular fan of Lingus but with most aircraft being utilised on shorthaul flights for between 16-18 hours a day..that's a pretty good utilisation of assets. Where would you have them operate to that would make better utilisation?

Actually, that's not the question to ask...where would you have them operate to and at what frequency so as to maximise the aircraft time and the revenue-earning potential while not driving up the crew costs to such a level as to make the whole thing uneconomic in order to make the utilisation "efficient" in your eyes.

I await your wisdom, O wise one

[en2r]

I'd tend to look at block hours per aircraft per day as a more accurate single measure of utilisation (utilisation as "intensity of sweating the asset") than number of sectors, which is entirely dependent on the particular route structure. Maybe an airline can generate more revenue from 8 short sectors than 6 long sectors, maybe not. Some of its direct operating costs are definitely going to be higher flying 8 rather than 6 sectors, though. I don't think it's possible to simplistically say "8 sectors good, 6 sectors bad."

Yes, I'd agree. You can't just make a general statement that 6 sectors per day is bad utilisation. A lot of Aer Lingus's routes from Cork are to European destinations which obviously are longer flights. Ryanair's Cork based aircraft operates 10 rotations per day. That sounds impressive until you consider that 8 of the 10 are short Cork to Dublin flights, and the other 2 are relatively short flights to/from Gatwick. The utilisation of the Cork based Ryanair aircraft is actually worse than any of the Cork based Aer lingus aircraft. It only leaves Cork at 07.40 and arrives back for the night at 21.40, and it spends a lot more time on the ground during the day than any of the Aer Lingus aircraft as well. You really do have to look at block hours and not the number of sectors to see how good the utilisation is.

[Cyrano]

Originally Posted by Tom the Tenor

You make a great advocate, Cyrano. We must fix you up with a Tribunal of Inquiry or something like that!

Thanks, Tom, I'd certainly hope to earn more there than here in the airline business!

[Provance]

There's something strange going on with the EI website and routes from ORK

They're chopping and changing routes and frequencies .... are we loosing an aircraft ?

[EI-RB]

Actually, that's not the question to ask...where would you have them operate to and at what frequency so as to maximise the aircraft time and the revenue-earning potential while not driving up the crew costs to such a level as to make the whole thing uneconomic in order to make the utilisation "efficient" in your eyes.

I await your wisdom, O wise one

Its just my opinion. I am not going to waste time arguing my case. But if one looks at say for example FR's Dublin Base. They can achieve a greater number of flights per day from their aircraft given the mixture of their short haul routes to the UK and their longer routes to Europe etc. The combination of both many short haul and longer routes from DUB enables FR to achieve excellent aircraft utilisation. EI serve 6 UK Airports from Dublin. FR serve 14 UK Airports from Dublin. Operatings costs may increase but fixed costs remain the same.

[akerosid]

FR will ultimately buy EI: O'Leary:

Ryanair says will ultimately buy Aer Lingus - Yahoo! News UK

I don't think any of us had much doubt, though here is MO'L putting it in black and white, so to speak. So, what are EI's options to forestall this?

- What can be done about long haul? Moving to low cost (Jetstar/Air Asia X) model?
- Short haul? Smaller type ... which would, as some have suggested, use up quite a bit of cash?

Thinking the unthinkable - and don't think I am an FR stooge when I broach this, because I certainly don't want it to happen - would it not be better to discuss with MO'L if certain parts of the airline can be saved, rather than waiting until all of the cash is burned through. After all, if MO'L wants to start a long haul operation, wouldn't it be better to use the EI name, because it will be much better known than FR's, particularly in the long haul market?

[airbourne]

Not really a big deal at all, but the ad agency for EI shouldve have at least ran the ad with the correct aircraft. Ad is for the EI flexifares and features a 737 with an eraser on the end. Just thought it was worthy of a mention for the plane spotters!

[akerosid]

5 route to go from BFS:

Aer Lingus axes five of its Belfast routes in winter cuts - Local & National, News - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Additionally, most of the press are reporting that 55 temporary cabin staff have been let go (although the Examiner claims that the figure is 65 - 56 in DUB and 9 in ORK, and that the terminations were done by text!)

The BFS routes going are BCN, Milan, CDG, FCO and FAO.

There will, however, be a new route from Dublin to Tunisia (Monastir?) and FUE, as well as a new BFS-TFS service.

[boyzinblue]

Has Cork to Munich been cancelled for the summer schedule 2010?

[840]

I doubt it.

the final timetable probably hasn't been loaded yet.

There are a number of routes not on sale from Cork yet - Birmingham, Barcelona, Berlin (and that's when I stopped after B!). So unless there's an aircraft getting withdrawn that would seem a surprising selection of cancelled routes.

Also, I wouldn't have thought Munich was top of the list for cancellation.

By the looks of things, those routes on sale so far are those that either have slot requirements (Heathrow, Amsterdam, Paris) or those where a large number of seats would be sold to tour operators (Malaga, Alicante, Faro).

[tigger2k8]

5 route to go from BFS:

Aer Lingus axes five of its Belfast routes in winter cuts - Local & National, News - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

The BFS routes going are BCN, Milan, CDG, FCO and FAO.

old news

FAO is always dropped in winter, theres little demand for BCN and CDG due to the EZY service at BFS, MXP and FCO only really work during summer... they are also keeping AGP so in theory only 3 routes lost for the winter

[tigger2k8]

Aer Lingus Flight Plays Mistake Emergency Landing Warning To Passengers From Dublin To Paris | World News | Sky News

Panic broke out on a flight to Paris when the cabin crew played an emergency landing announcement by mistake.



Aer Lingus said the mistake was down to a mechanical failure


Passengers on the Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Paris began shouting out and crying as they thought their plane was about to ditch.
The drama followed an initial announcement made in English, telling passengers to return to their seats because of turbulence.

[cougafer]

EI LHR Figures

I see the CAA provisional stats are out, with Aer Lingus seemingly doing well on the heathrow route.
27300 passengers carried, works out at an 84% load factor for the month of August. (21x weekly)
In comparison SNN-LHR carried 14739 - 81% load factor for the month
(12x weekly)

[EI320]

The load factor on SNN-LHR for August was ~89%. 14739 pax carried with 12 weekly flights.

[ryan2000]

Ei Snn Lhr

Good load factors but yields are also crucial. Still I'd say SNN LHR is secure as as can be expected at this time.