EI/EIR have a contract clause on Scotland routes and overcoming this could be a problem but LHR will be guaranteed from next summer and may potentially be the only route in 2019.

From a fuel prospective yes however they will make more money flying NEO to LHR/AMS/CDG/FCO with J almost full. They will probally not do any med routes because the config in Y is more less an A320 and they will make little extra on the J class seats.

It looks like one of the new A330's will need a little TLC.

While under tow to the gate in SFO EI-GAJ rubbed up against a wall

https://www.independent.ie/irish-new...-36941213.html

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...483521901.html

Edit: View looking from the front of the aircraft (credit Facebook via Boards.ie)
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/atta...7&d=1527158552

JAS

Had winglet removed on return to DUB

DUB-FRA-DUB
 

DUB-FRA goes 3 daily Mon, Fri and Sun over most of winter season just as Ryanair start. There is no question of the route been dropped but x3 daily won't last and 49 on a Saturday evening isn't great but not unusual.

LH/EI attract very different types of passengers with EI been heavily O&D and LH connections.

A350's still coming?
 

IB received its first A350 today, 26th June, and the first of the type for the IAG family.

According to the FlightGlobal article on the delivery;

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...t-a350-449738/

Is FlightGlobal just working off out of date information? Has no decision been made on the original A350 announcement? Or have the slots been reallocated within IAG and just not relabled?

Does anyone know for certain if the A350's are still arriving to EI?

JAS

FlightGlobal just working on old information.

Aer Lingus explained its future fleet plan at an investors meeting last year and no A350s were visible well into the 2020s. The fleet will focus on A321LR and A333 for the foreseeable but those saying the order is "dead" or "will never happen" are naive as that's not the way IAG works.

Within IAG any aircraft currently on the books could go to any airline should a business case be put forward and be successful, if in a few years Aer Lingus decide its ready for next generation aircraft it could get them pretty quickly by either dipping into the IAG orders or exercising options held by the group just like they did with the recent A333s. The A321LR was ordered pretty quickly once Aer Lingus displayed to IAG the business case was there for them.

So are the original 9 A350s still coming to Aer Lingus? No. Could they still arrive at a later date? Definitely.

OK so they're going to Iberia or BA instead? IAG are still taking them?

It's not clear.

The majority of the original order hadn't been assigned production numbers by Airbus yet, by early 2016 only the first aircraft had been given MSN 197 with delivery scheduled for Q2 2018 but that was later assigned to Vietnam Airlines, obviously not an IAG carrier. Obviously IAG already has an A350 order pool, I'm not sure if that officially went up by 9 units when Aer Lingus joined the group or not and that's the only way to tell where those aircraft went.

The original slot was clearly reassigned by Airbus on instruction from Aer Lingus/IAG sometime in 2016.

When I suggested the aircraft could arrive at a later date, I was talking about the larger A350 order already at IAG including options which could be exercised relatively quickly like the recent brand new A333 arrivals.

How many passengers were affected by NOC/Gatwick flight on 28/06/2018 that was canceled?
What was the real reason?

If that's the case go for it, you'll obviously get plenty of other rewards working through the tiers.

Owen,

Unless you can advance a level by 1 December 2018, there is no point in starting until after 1 Dec. They reset it annually so you have 1 year to move up a tier.

Just the points, so no point in spending hundreds before Dec unless you are confident you can achieve it.

In general, unless you are going to pay for Plus tickets from LHR then its not worth it as many of the basic fares are only 7.5 and not 15 credits. You only get 15 on saver fares if you spend I think more than 70 euro each way so whatever the equivalent in points.

If you log into aer club or via the Aer Lingus app and scroll the virtual card over the screen it will show you your anniversary date.

Why do you need to fly business ? Economy fares to the west coast are very reasonable.

Not sure about new but has been suggestion possible 2 A330s will join with potential 1 replacement. SEA should be increased because loads are strong since launch. DEN was strongly rumored this year so 1 new A330 would allow daily SEA and x4 weekly DEN work. Then of course the 3 A321LRs to boost east coast capacity while adding a route or two.

Would be great to see one of the A321LR`s on a Cork-New York route.

I don't think it's as straight forward as you are making it out by saying, 'Transatlantic doesn't work from Cork'. While I think Cork is a regional airport, and the reality of flights across the US is a completely unrealistic expectation, you also need to look at the offering that is there for transatlantic at the moment. Norwegian, while they deserve credit for offering the first direct route, fly into Providence... this is marketed as Boston, but the reality is, Providence is not Boston, and should not be marketed as Boston! This is like FR marketing Hahn as Frankfurt. There is no possibility of onward connections to other areas in the US, and the days of week the service is offered are all over the place. I fly to the US quite often, but the service they offer never makes sense, in terms of outbound and return. Cork needs a regular service to either New York or Boston, where people can connect onwards to other destinations. If it's EI that offer this, great, I personally don't think they will, but that's just an opinion! I think Cork needs to find a carrier that will be able to fly passengers into a larger airport, with good onward flight opportunities...

They do already. Shannon, Dublin or they fly to LHR/AMS etc. Therein lies the problem with Cork and why Norwegian have curtailed routes. The demand is thin and Cork have demonstrated time and time over that they are extremely price sensitive and show little brand loyalty. Putting in a TA aircraft for AL will only dilute their loads out of Dublin and Shannon. Same if they were to put a BFS based A330.

It's not so much that people in Cork have shown themselves to be price sensitive as that they have shown themselves to be willing to take a direct flight from Dublin in preference to a connecting flight from Cork. So for Aer Lingus there is absolutely no point looking at the service. If significant numbers of people were routing via LHR, CDG, AMS to get to New York, Aer Lingus would seriously look at the service as another airline would be getting the bulk of the revenue. If another airline started offering a successful direct service, Aer Lingus would probably react with a direct service as that would impact on Dublin numbers.