Aer Lingus - 2
 

previous thread is here:
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=221329

Whats up at Aer Lingus?
 

Whats happening at Aer Lingus? No cheap fares anymore. Is this because Willie Walsh left or they are trying to look better on paper for the float?

Took 5 trips to France this month. Normally 5 would have been with Aer Lingus but this time I only choose to fly with them twice and Ryanair got my custom on the other three trips.

Flew to Paris last Friday and the aircraft wasn't even half full.

Flew to Marseilles last Thursday and there were only 67 on board.

Simple math if I wanted to take the family with Aer Lingus to the S of France this summer they wanted over EUR2,000. So I flew with Ryanair to Marseilles for EUR350 on a full aircraft so what are Aer Lingus up to? Is it they have bigger aircraft that they find harder to fill or do they prefer running half full aircraft with people who never heard of alternative operators yet? My first choice was always Aer Lingus money talks!

....lesson one in the economics of operating in the Irish market! Next up for the yield manager's position.

I've just noticed that EI have upped their fuel surcharge to €80 :eek::\:uhoh::confused:

Aer Lingus
 

"I think Eli's fares are very good especially if you book early and are flexible"

I think that's all changed. Yes in the past if you booked early you got the best price but now when it looks as if demand is low they reduce their prices. In May I was caught out going to Lyon. I booked the family trip early but a week or two before departure I could have got the same flights for €350 less and even at that there were still plenty of seats unsold. So really the fare I was sold for purchasing during one of their so called 'Sales' cost me because I was effectively subsidising the seats that were left unsold. This July I left it to the last minute to book and found Are Lings cheaper in only two of my five round trips. My custom for the other three went to Ryan and I have to say Ryan flights were punctual.

If you are flexible - say you can go on their am flight on a particular Tuesday in Nov to get their headline sale price fine but in reality Aer Lingus is sometimes a low-cost carrier and sometimes just the same as they always were.

They worked hard to build an image of offering cheap fares which they appear to be having great difficulty maintaining.

I think this happens with every airline. I have booked last minute flights with EI and got great fares, when FR has been hundres of euros. On other occasions, EI is 10 times FR's fares! I think EI's low fares can be harder to find than before, but they still offer good value on a lot of flights, and provide good service! I mean, you cant beat a E300 return to Boston!

Baggage Charge
 

Aer Lingus follows Ryanair on baggage charge

http://www.rte.ie/business/2006/0801/aerlingus.html

According to the Irish Times, Aer Lingus are going to bring in charges for checked in baggage on short-haul flights.

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/bre...breaking45.htm

It'll be interesting to see how this affects the flights where they code share with BA, KLM etc.

EI copy FR
 

air lingus to charge for checked in baggage on european flights
this sound to me like they are trying to copy ryanair

daz211

Although Ryanair weren't the originals on this move either. I believe Flybe were first.

Flybe wasnt the first to introduce charging passengers for checked luggage. PeoplExpress introduced this in the 1980's

MO'L targeting EI
 

Interesting article in today's Sunday Business Post, an interview with MO'L:

http://www.thepost.ie/post/pages/p/s...325-qqqx=1.asp

Doesn't make particularly good reading from an EI perspective; he's obviously focusing on EI's privatisation next month (as was probably clear from the press release accompanying last week's new route announcement) and trying to scare away potential investors. The question is, how can EI compete with this onslaught? I sincerely hope they can; the prospect of FR being the only major Irish airline is not one I want to entertain.

Is there any way EI can develop short haul routes and protect the markets it's already on, to an extent that FR would be dissuaded from competing head on with them; after all, there are many other untapped markets, as well as opportunities to compete with other, less healthy flag carriers, such as AZ, OA, SK, etc.

One thing is clear: the FR onslaught at DUB makes it all the more important that EI can build its long haul network from DUB as soon as possible. Oct 12th is the big day as far as that's concerned, although there needs to be a "Plan B", in case Open Skies doesn't proceed as planned.

I booked for Birmingham a while ago for December this year, €1 each way, cant go wrong there :ok:

Finally someones talking sence!!! Aer Lingus always have and always will be better than Ryanair what you pay on Ryanair is what you get 1cent no pitch on seats no pocket in front, Ryanair try and make it as uncomfertable as f*cking possible, it's grotty, crews not trained and unhelpful don't do their jobs properly I could be here until tomorrow. Aer Lingus I thin kis one of the most friendly Courteous and at least they clean up their planes on landing last time I travelled with Ryanair I found bread crumbs on my table an a used babies nappy in the pocket in front when I asked for it to be dissposed they said "What you pay is whayt you get" I wrote to Ryanair and told them about this and yet the same reply "what you pay is what you get" I hope Ryanair pull out of Cork and make way for EI and REA cause nobody likes them. Now they're trying to know EI out of Spain which is totally stupid cause people wan't to get proper food and not bloody buns that taste like card-board!!!

You say there are no pockets in front, then a few lines further on you say that you found a used baby nappy in "the pocket in front".

Shanwickman


Until very recently Ryanair had a mix of planes with and without seat pockets. Not sure if they are all refitted now but there you go!

Shanwickman, I traveled with Ryanair in 2003 since then they have started eliminating pockets on new a/c with will eventually bring them to have no pockets.

Open Skies setback for EI
 

The US DOT has said it won't be in a position to provide details of its proposed new rules on foreign o/ship and mgmt of US carriers by the EU Transport Council meeting on the 12th October. This is extremely bad news for Aer Lingus, with privatisation coming up next month and comes on top of the increased threat from FR.

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independe...issue_id=14507

What are the options here? The EU says it is still hopeful that a deal can be done by year-end, but even that's not terribly helpful; even if the US does come up with new rules, there's no guarantee that these will be acceptable and while negotiations are ongoing, it's highly unlikely that the EU will allow the govt to negotiate a special deal or dispensation with the US or even to proceed with the deal announced last November. That said, Cullen will be under severe pressure to provide some comfort to potential investors next month. With short haul coming under severe pressure, long haul is the airline's big hope and if growth is stunted there, it makes life difficult on two levels; firstly, the mere fact of not being able to grow, but secondly, the fact that because they don't know WHEN they're going to get rights, they can't plan fleet expansion.

The EU holds all the cards, so if they say "no" to the govt, as they're likely to, there's little hope of their minds being changed. However, the one remote possibility is that since the EU position has the effect of imposing a competitive disadvantage on Aer Lingus and since the proposed Irish/US mini deal doesn't pose a competitive disadvantage to any other country, the govt could threaten to insist on a provision in any reworked EU Constitution to prevent the EU from acting in this way; it's a very long shot (and pretty unlikely), but there's very few cards for the govt to play.

This latest setback once again plays into Shannon's hands.

It may give a short term advantage, but the expectation is that the US will have its proposals by year end; however, just an expectation and there have been so many setbacks and pitfalls over the years, that it's not reasonable to be confident about this. Even if they do present new proposals, will they be acceptable? Meanwhile, even though EI doesn't have any interest in buying in a US carrier, it - and most other EU carriers - lose out, and this at a time when US carriers are throwing capacity onto the Irish market with jets diverted from the domestic market.