Aer Lingus - 5
Join Date: Apr 2006
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It's sad to see Aer Lingus' next decline in routes. I personally enjoyed the new route from Gatwick to Eindhoven which had often quit impressive load factors. It was a good alternative for Ryanair's route from Stansted.... 
Join Date: Nov 2005
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Loads aren't the problem, its the yields. The latest trading statement issued has increases across the board on loads but if people are paying on average 20 or 30 quid to get to these places and then buying nothing on board its a loss maker. Customers are generally highly price sensitive in these bucket and spade sort of routes and will show little loyalty so long as a better deal can be gotten elsewhere. Its no different to the corner shop. If you don't support them and pay your way then don't be surprised when they close up.
Join Date: Nov 2009
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Sad to see Aer Lingus cutting back at Gatwick! Although it was always going to be a struggle for them here when up against the mighty orange bus.
Does anyone know what Aer Lingus plan to do with the two aircraft they are removing from Gatwick?
Does anyone know what Aer Lingus plan to do with the two aircraft they are removing from Gatwick?
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Larne, UK
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Does anyone know what Aer Lingus plan to do with the two aircraft they are removing from Gatwick?
would be a great opportunity for EI to expand at BFS... now that they have figured out that most people in N.I love the sun they should have a good year (ACE,AGP,ALC,BCN,FAO,TFS) all very popular with N.I travellers, as well as LHR for transfers amd FCO(which a lot of people travelled to DUB for once the route ended for winter at BFS).. no word on CDG yet.. which is strange considering its popular in Summer..
apparently EI expects to make a small operating profit..
Aer Lingus predicts small operating profit - MarketWatch
Join Date: Aug 2009
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EI were looking for trouble the day the stepped on Easy's toes. EI have now demonstrated they cannot grow organically in the UK or Europe it should merge with a bigger carrier as soon as. For years they have been pottering around missing the huge opportunities out there. Has anyone got Vision in EI ?? I wonder where these 2 aircraft will be based. What a disaster LGW has turned out to be. Now we know why Coyle left.
Join Date: Aug 2007
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EI at CWL
Any chance of EI setting up at CWL, what with Baby not doing so well, it will have very little competition and could bring some much needed routes to the South Wales population. Not stepping on Easy's or that other carriers toes then as it is at Gatwick. There are plenty of routes from BRS but South Wales travellers would prefer not to have to cross the bridge to get anywahere.
Join Date: Jul 2006
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I personally enjoyed the new route from Gatwick to Eindhoven which had often quit impressive load factors. It was a good alternative for Ryanair's route from Stansted....
Eindhoven: Only competition is Ryanair on Stansted.
Cork: Direct competition from Ryanair on Gatwick. Indirect competition from Ryanair on Stansted and from themselves on Heathrow.
Personally I see the appeal of remaining on the Eindhoven route, especially if it was profiable or showing potential.
But, the Cork route is strategically important.
The forthcoming Aer Lingus and Aer Arann team up will make Aer Lingus a even larger entity on the Ireland to UK market. Having one route from Eindhoven is random and brings marketing challenges etc. Having a London route from Cork is logical, Aer Lingus have been doing that for decades, and it's easier to manage and market.
It'll be difficult for Eindhoven to replace the Gatwick route I fear
I think Aer Lingus do have some ambitions in the direction of Cardiff, but these are likely to be realised through an enhanced Aer Arann service when/if the EI-RE deal goes through.
The LGW pullback was a racing certainty from day one. Why on earth anyone thought it was a good idea to take on people including easyJet, Monarch and BA head-on from Gatwick is still an unanswered question. The main issue now is the future for the EI LGW-based crew, who I think it is fair to say have done their very best to make this work despite the enormous handicaps imposed on them from incompetent management in Dublin.
The LGW pullback was a racing certainty from day one. Why on earth anyone thought it was a good idea to take on people including easyJet, Monarch and BA head-on from Gatwick is still an unanswered question. The main issue now is the future for the EI LGW-based crew, who I think it is fair to say have done their very best to make this work despite the enormous handicaps imposed on them from incompetent management in Dublin.
Join Date: May 2005
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EI @ LGW
Presumably, if only Gatwick to Dublin, Knock, Malaga and Cork are to remain, all of the following Gatwick routes will be binned:
Bucharest OTP
Eindhoven
Faro
Lanzarote
Munich
Nice
Tenerife
Vienna
Vilnius
Warsaw
Zurich
If so, that's pretty spectacular. Are they trying to rival Ryanair's Shannon base for the title of "most impressive base meltdown?". So much for the vision of 8 based aircraft by Summer 2010.
To keep 3 aircraft busy, I would imagine that most or all of the LGW-DUB rotations will be operated by Gatwick based aircraft.
Bucharest OTP
Eindhoven
Faro
Lanzarote
Munich
Nice
Tenerife
Vienna
Vilnius
Warsaw
Zurich
If so, that's pretty spectacular. Are they trying to rival Ryanair's Shannon base for the title of "most impressive base meltdown?". So much for the vision of 8 based aircraft by Summer 2010.
To keep 3 aircraft busy, I would imagine that most or all of the LGW-DUB rotations will be operated by Gatwick based aircraft.
Join Date: Aug 2002
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Merging for the sake of grow is madness. The BA / IB tie up is less than ideal but for EI there isn't even that much synergy available.
Aer Lingus have a good brand, proud heritage and loyalty can be rebuilt into a good choice into Eire from the UK, US and key European cities. Not the Ryanair that flies to everywhere but the more pricey choice that you'd rather choose if price isn't everything.
I think merging for the sake of it is a little desperate IMHO. We shall see.
Aer Lingus have a good brand, proud heritage and loyalty can be rebuilt into a good choice into Eire from the UK, US and key European cities. Not the Ryanair that flies to everywhere but the more pricey choice that you'd rather choose if price isn't everything.
I think merging for the sake of it is a little desperate IMHO. We shall see.
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Co. Antrim UK
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I think there are opportunities at Belfast if EI and Aer Arran got an act together. For instance Aer Arran, could move into the UK domestic at Belfast. The likes of MAN/BHX/CWL (currently operated by WW but the schedule is very poor, and CWL is vacant this summer, how long will the others remain?-smaller aircraft more frequently would prove popular), possibly LCY as well. Aer Arran size aircraft could try a few near continent routes as well - La Rochelle, Rennes, Brussels.
Join Date: Oct 2007
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Hi all,
I think it's worth pausing for a minute here to understand the full implications of this. By pulling out of LGW Aer Lingus have pretty much admitted they cannot sustain a base outside of the island of Ireland. If Aer Lingus could not sustain a base in London (admittedly EZY, BA, RYR are big players) where there is a massive Irish community, then it begs the question, can they sustain a base anywhere outside the island of Ireland? If, as it now appears, they cannot, then Aer Lingus' growth opportunities are severly limited. The key question for Aer Lingus is "where to next?". They have been perenially reliant on the performance of the Irish economy (along with the US and UK) and their attempts to de-couple from that have now failed. It feels to me that Aer Lingus either need to batten down the hatches and become a very good, well organised niche carrier or alternatively give in and follow the merger route.
All the best,
P2C
I think it's worth pausing for a minute here to understand the full implications of this. By pulling out of LGW Aer Lingus have pretty much admitted they cannot sustain a base outside of the island of Ireland. If Aer Lingus could not sustain a base in London (admittedly EZY, BA, RYR are big players) where there is a massive Irish community, then it begs the question, can they sustain a base anywhere outside the island of Ireland? If, as it now appears, they cannot, then Aer Lingus' growth opportunities are severly limited. The key question for Aer Lingus is "where to next?". They have been perenially reliant on the performance of the Irish economy (along with the US and UK) and their attempts to de-couple from that have now failed. It feels to me that Aer Lingus either need to batten down the hatches and become a very good, well organised niche carrier or alternatively give in and follow the merger route.
All the best,
P2C
Join Date: Jul 2006
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By pulling out of LGW Aer Lingus have pretty much admitted they cannot sustain a base outside of the island of Ireland.
Join Date: Apr 2009
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Actually all this highlights is that we had clowns for management at the reins with ill conceived strategies that were neither coherent nor well thought out. Presently these illustrious middle managers are fighting for their jobs against the backdrop of a 40% reduction in headcount at the head office. External management consultants are being brought in and people are having to reapply for their jobs. The first casualty was our esteemed HR leader more latterly followed by the CFO. No doubt the CEO knows who he wants, where he is heading and how he is going to get there. The management consultants will of course give him the bits of paper he needs for the board to start wielding the axe. Hopefully there will be a clearout of the ex public service mob. You never know we might actually bring in some people that know what they are doing and shake things up a bit!
And the strategy would now appear to be to focus on what we do best eg: short haul out of Ireland with a few key long haul niche North American markets serviced to tap into the Irish allegiances. There seems to be a shift away from setting up overseas bases but rather entering into strategic alliances (eg Washington with United), the possibility of going back into One World or similar and revenue sharing arrangements/interlines eg: Aer Arran. Whilst any profits to be gained from these will be diluted the associated risks and downside will be much lower. At the same time the brand awareness will hopefully be such that in the future we may be better placed to go it alone say when the market picks up.
And the strategy would now appear to be to focus on what we do best eg: short haul out of Ireland with a few key long haul niche North American markets serviced to tap into the Irish allegiances. There seems to be a shift away from setting up overseas bases but rather entering into strategic alliances (eg Washington with United), the possibility of going back into One World or similar and revenue sharing arrangements/interlines eg: Aer Arran. Whilst any profits to be gained from these will be diluted the associated risks and downside will be much lower. At the same time the brand awareness will hopefully be such that in the future we may be better placed to go it alone say when the market picks up.
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Start and end the TA A330s flights at MAN (via DUB) then put all European flights via MAN. similar to the old 5th freedom operation they had.
There is no Ryanair competition here and some European destination are crying out for flights.
Just a thought
There is no Ryanair competition here and some European destination are crying out for flights.
Just a thought
put all European flights via MAN. similar to the old 5th freedom operation
What a wonderful way of screwing up what you've got left in Dublin. Eliminate all non-stop flights from Dublin and hand over your shorthaul market share to Ryanair, then provide far more seats than the route between Manchester and Dublin could ever possibly need. It didn't work last time - and it's no surprise that you have nothing left of the Hamburg and Copenhagen routes, two of those involved - and most definitely won't work now.
PS - are you the recently-departed CFO in disguise? There are more than a few who suspect he was put into EI by his old boss just to make even more of a mess of the place.
Join Date: Nov 2009
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I have made several posts about the shocking waste of shareholders money at Gatwick.
it was never going to work and the people who trhought it was should hang their heads in shame
Join Date: Nov 2009
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I think EI picked the wrong UK airport to open a short haul base. LGW to Europe is saturated with Easyjet, British Airways, Flybe, Monarch and other carriers.
If Aer Lingue is to do well from LGW, in my opinion it needs to be long haul. We have lost allot of long haul flights to Heathrow over the last year or so but their is no doubt that demand for direct flights to places like JFK, LAX, SFO, BOS, ORD and other North American cities definitely exists from LGW.
Aer Lingus could make a fortune flying long haul from LGW, imo.
If Aer Lingue is to do well from LGW, in my opinion it needs to be long haul. We have lost allot of long haul flights to Heathrow over the last year or so but their is no doubt that demand for direct flights to places like JFK, LAX, SFO, BOS, ORD and other North American cities definitely exists from LGW.
Aer Lingus could make a fortune flying long haul from LGW, imo.