Aer Lingus - 5

[airbourne]

Getting slightly off topic folks, so I will bring it back to Aer Lingus and the position they found themselves in when they tried to make themselves low-cost. I too remember the days off 300 from Dublin to London, but more recently I remember that it was still possible to fly cheaply from Dublin to somewhere in Spain and not get screwed, blued and tattooed by the airlines.

Now you have to pay for bags, pay for this, pay for that. Ayroplain point out why people need to buy something on board. You are dead right, they dont have to, however stay hydrated on board, bring something for the kids that you didnt get time to buy in the airport. There can be any number of reasons why people buy on board. The major thing that most passengers dont like is the fees and charges. €1 flight plus charges equals €100.

Airports maybe have to do something to entice passengers, but the airlines have to play their part too. Something that I dont see Aer Lingus doing. They generally run with the, well if Ryanair can do it, so can we attitude!

[CallBell]

I'd like to see EI innovate with its transatlantic service.

Specifically, I'd like to see a day time departure from JFK that gets into DUB around 22:30/23:00.

I'd use it...

Arriving into DUB @ 22.30/23.00 would mean the aircraft would have to overnight in DUB. It would also involve a departure from JFK at about 10.00 local. That would either mean the aircraft overnighted in JFK or arrived in there at 8am... neither would be practical. The likes of BA can do it as their longhaul network is huge and not solely transatlantic.

[ryan2000]

DAA incentives

In fairness to Aerlingus the quality and price of their food is reasonable compared to the rip off prices at some airport restuarants. I agree that Ryanair's in your face approach to onboard selling turns me off. I hope that any incentives will be linked to routes that are capable of generating inbound tourists even if it's at the expense of Sun Routes.

There are plenty of Charter airlines available to take up the Sun Routes if the need arises. I suspect the DAA will call the airlines bluff and that few if any new routes will commence.

[EI-BUD]

Ryanair's in your face approach to onboard selling turns me off

ryan2000; since Ryanair have left BHD I havent used them as much as before, but what really gets me is the way they put the seat belt signs on when they want to commence selling something eg Tickets, Food, Drinks, etc. Creates a more captive than captive audience. This happened at least 2 or 3 times enroute to Berlin and coming back from Madrid!!

EI-BUD

[airbourne]

CallBell, I know it wont happen, BUT if you had an 8am departure DUB-JFK, and allowing for 7 hour flight, thats 10am local. Depart at 1300. Arrive Dublin at midnight local! Thats depending on loads of things but you get the idea!

The 104/136 gets in around 5am.

[OltonPete]

seat-belt signs

EI-BUD

More for the FR thread but.............

I have to put my hand up and admit I fell for that one like a right lemon.

Seat-belt sign went on in perfectly smooth conditions, I gripped the armrest
tightly and warned the kids. Yes, guess what......nothing by the way of
turbulence just preparing for some on-board selling. What a

It took me until the return flight to work that one out having not used FR
for a while.

I have not flown EI for a few years but my kids see it as a treat to buy on board and it keeps them quiet for a bit. However when I got the bill re FR's prices it did make my eyes water and at least EI's coffee is drinkable from what I can remember although as I say that was a few years ago.

Pete

[Noxegon]

Callbell, airbourne has already answered my point (sort of). I was going to suggest a 7:00am departure ex-DUB, and a 11:30 departure ex-JFK. It can be done; all it needs is a little imagination.

[airbourne]

There is bigger chance of you being able to drive across the atlantic that Aer Lingus making that happen!

[Noxegon]

Agreed. Shame though.

[CallBell]

A 7am departure from DUB and an 11.30am departure from JFK coupled with such a late arrival into DUB would mean the flight would rely on point to point passengers. Not sure all it takes is a bit of imagination, it needs a good level of demand from passengers.

[JWP2010]

SNN/LGW

Not surprised at a reduction here; I feel a later flight into SNN would be far better.

[EI-BUD]

Not surprised at a reduction here

I would say the routes from LGW are at best marginal (with the exclusion of DUB) and wouldnt be surprised if they are axed from Winter 2011/12.

EI-BUD

[adfly]

I don't think the will be axed but if the worst comes to the worst I can see the base going down to one A320 Operating Knock, Malaga and some of the Dublin flights.

[BFS101]

Are EI intending to operate flights to the Canaries this winter from BFS. LHR is the only destination currently available past November. If so, when are these flights likely to be put on-sale???

[EI-BUD]

I think I read that Gatwick/Malaga going down to once daily, I cant see the route being kept, 1 solitary route being operated by Aer Lingus that doesnt arrive in or leave from the Island of Ireland. My prediction is that Aer Lingus will scale back the LGW operation from end of Summer Timetable.

Today in the Sunday Business Post the talk is that Aer Lingus will lease 320s out for winter season (may not be this winter season though) to airlines operating maybe in Canada, south America and maybe airlines in southern hemisphere etc who have seasonal demand.

I am not intending to be negative but if the government do sell assets the big focus will be Heathrow slots, in which case my fears would be around the BFS slots from same.

EI-BUD

[Jamie2k9]

I have to agree with EI-BUD about the LGW base. I would say it will be closed at the end of this summer season. I don''t see EI being able to sustain LGW - DUB 6 daily as well as Ryanair on 6 daily. They also said they will further reduce routes which are under proforming.

Easyjet 'not interested' in buying Aer Lingus stake - Irish, Business - Independent.ie

Are EI intending to operate flights to the Canaries this winter from BFS. LHR is the only destination currently available past November. If so, when are these flights likely to be put on-sale???

I would expect if them to be on sale in the next few weeks.

[Steviec9]

Interested to see what they will do with the new LGW-SNN service if they downscale/close the LGW base. A single, very early morning rotation for principally P2P traffic has always seemed an odd timetabling choice, particularly as the single FR SNN/LGW rotation follows it within a matter of hours. The flexibility of being able to use EI to/from LGW/SNN is lost by having to/from schlep to LGW or SNN at the crack of dawn. The inconvenience is causing people to stick to the first SNN/LHR service.

I believe an evening service would be much more useful. At the moment, most non business people I know who would like to use the EI LGW service are continuing to fly on FR from either LGW or STN (to avoid EI’s LHR fees) and back on EI to LHR or FR to STN to give themselves extra time in bed!

[840]

There's no great harm in having the early Gatwick-Shannon as otherwise the first London-Shannon flight with Aer Lingus wouldn't get business travellers to their destination before lunch time.

I agree that the timing of both the Shannon and Cork flights are a bit unfortunate. With a second flight a day (even if operated by Aer Lingus Regional), they could tap into a valuable connections market.

Although, the way Aer Lingus might look at it is that all they would be doing would be taking passengers off either dircet services from Dublin or services to Heathrow, CDG, Amsterdam etc.

[EI320]

Aer Lingus Shannon/Gatwick

Flights now operate in the evening in the upcoming winter timetable, dept ex LGW 17:50, dept ex SNN 19:55. A much more suitable schedule for the Shannon market.

There's no great harm in having the early Gatwick-Shannon as otherwise the first London-Shannon flight with Aer Lingus wouldn't get business travellers to their destination before lunch time.

The bulk of the business traffic on Shannon/London is SNN based though, people travelling to London, not from London. Demand for early morning London-Shannon flights has always been weak and the yield is sh**e. It's not surprising that EI have adjusted the schedule so early on.

I think I read that Gatwick/Malaga going down to once daily, I cant see the route being kept, 1 solitary route being operated by Aer Lingus that doesnt arrive in or leave from the Island of Ireland. My prediction is that Aer Lingus will scale back the LGW operation from end of Summer Timetable.

The return of BA on the route will put the EI service under further pressure and will also greatly diminish the chances of capturing the higher end of the market. It's only a matter of time before the route is cut in it's entirety.

[Steviec9]

Flights now operate in the evening in the upcoming winter timetable, dept ex LGW 17:50, dept ex SNN 19:55. A much more suitable schedule for the Shannon market.

Yay!! Perfect. Although tempered by the fact the route goes down to 4xweekly operation (1-3-5-7).

Take the point that both posters above have made but as a regular, I am aware that most pax are P2P on this route. Shannon pax are well served for onward connections thru the existing LHR service or the (rather less desirable) option of travelling to DUB.

Personally, I can't wait for the revised LGW service - and will be telling everyone who wants to avoid either LHR or FR. And there's a lot of us!