Yes - was involved in filling in an application last night.

is this on the official Aer lingus site or a separate Aer lingus uk site?...thanks

Indo reports 120 crew and 40 pilots based on 4 aircraft and flights expected to go on sale in a few weeks. Only 3 have schedules, one assumes the fourth will be spare and used to boost freq if/when the need arises. The Aer Lingus statement:

https://www.independent.ie/business/...-40205661.html

TBH the article is all a bit if and maybe and hope to but still, jobs is jobs at the moment.

Precisely this. My anticipation is that these routes don't actually take off until early next year, although every hope for all involved that they can have some kind of season this year.

Current planning is for an end of July start. I’m hearing the proposed BOS route will not feature this year.

New York and Orlando on sale from July and Bridgetown is added for winter.

Aer Lingus launches new direct UK-US flights with fares from £199 each way
 

Very exciting developments indeed, I think a July launch is very optimistic given the Governments rhetoric on international travel, but welcome all the same. When doing a dummy booking however, the website states only UK originating bookings can be made. Anyone know why this might be?

Waiting for AOC until USA DOT permit ex USA reservations

Pardon my ignorance but if IAG wanted to operate bucket and spade routes out of MAN, why not just use the spare BAW lift?

Because years ago, for reasons I can't fathom, BA decided to withdraw from the regions and concentrate on LHR. They were forced to keep Gatwick because of capacity limits at LHR but have remained true to that decision. I realise that LCY based Embraers have operated weekend fillers from MAN but thats a long way from a longhaul base like this.

They became "London Airways" and thus Aer Lingus have spotted a potential business which IAG have allowed..........

CAA proving flight was today with a A321.

EI went hunting a few years ago for some UK regional locations, Dublin has picked up a significant volume of business as people voted with their feet and wallets to avoid the madness, stress and flying the wrong way via LHR/LGW. So the next step was to fly direct.

1. EI has a heavier focus on Y, BA is heavily tied to premium cabins. EI send A330's down to Spain daily in peak season and fills them, none of the messing BA has with load management on 4 class 777's in Europe.

2. The A330-300 is an efficient long haul passenger aircraft, sure the 777 has more capacity but you don't need the MTOW/range for bucket and spade jobs

3. EI has the A321NEOLR which is unbeatable cost wise. EI's cost base is highly competitive which comes from having Ryanair camped out at your home base, no such worries at LHR...

4. If BA did show up at MAN it would be a worn out 777 or one with the 10 across densification, which isn't going to get you return business. The EI J seat was the best seat on the Atlantic for several years and the A330 Y cabin is a vastly nicer place to be than any 777 version

5. Thomas Cook/Monarch demise and Virgin's constant uncertainty left Manchester with a target on its back and EI took first move advantage

ETOPS

BA were kicked out of the regions by the easyJets of the world. They fly the old BA routes at a fraction of the cost with none of the overheads legacy BA had. Best example I heard was when BA bought British Regional, the Jetstream 41 fleet went from moneymaker to lossmaker overnight once it was plugged into the BA cost base. Big Airways were fat, bloated and entitled and charged top dollar, the market said "no thanks" and went all orange instead. Basically LHR was the only place BA could make money back then.

I think the refurbished 10 abreast B777s are actually quite nice, and no different to Emirates or Qatar. Aer Lingus uses an A330 on a DUB-AGP between long hauls for passengers holidaying in Spain, BA do the same with a B777 on LHR-MAD, although mainly for cargo and connections to Iberia long haul so more premium seats are needed.

Do we know what the callsign will be for the G- Aer Lingus fleet?

How about “Clover” :ok:

Skipness One Foxtrot

I'm not a particularly large person, and I find 10-abreast in a 777 to be miserable.

Separately, unless something dramatic has changed in the last few years, I reckon Emirates' ICE has the edge over anything BA offers on the seat back.

ETOPS

They could cause ructions in the motherland and adopt AERLINGUS that was dropped in favour of SHAMROCK in the mid-80s...

Some stats on traffic split from MAN and overall UK transit.

https://www.anna.aero/2021/03/25/aer...b-hub-success/

AerLingus UK
 

El Bunto Aer Lingus have been using Shamrock from at least 1960s

Actually not, SHAMROCK was used by Aerlinte Eireann for transatlantic flights. After those were folded into the Aer Lingus portfolio, SHAMROCK transferred over to the rest of the network from about 1980 onwards.

No, SHAMROCK was used at that time by Aerlinte Eireann for transatlantic flights. After those were folded into the Aer Lingus portfolio, SHAMROCK transferred over to the rest of the network from about 1980 onwards, replacing AERLINGUS.

Well I remember the 1-11s calling Shamrock in 1969 when they did the European flights ex Manchester to Zurich, Copenhagen, Amsterdam etc

With the delivery yesterday of the second A321LR Aer Lingus UK have both their new aircraft "on the property". I'm assuming the recent AOC proving flight will have concluded succesfully thus they are getting closer to the start of operations.......

Apart for the Covid travel restictions that is :rolleyes:

El Bunto is correct re the callsign history. In fact "Shamrock" was dropped altogether for a while in the 1980s, with transatlantic services using "Aer Lingus", before being adopted again for the whole operation.

Only two aircraft to be based at MAN now. I'm beginning to get a sinking feeling about all this.

Liffy 1M

So short haul used "Aer Lingus" as well at this time?

TURIN

Why? This was the plan - 1 to do JFK and 1 for MCO/BGI. Further aircraft will be added next year when they start BOS ...

TURIN

Absolutely nothing has changed. As mentioned above, always the plan, 1 neo, 1 330 for 2021.

Actually, no it wasn't. The original plan was two A321LR and two A330. Start date was May 2021. The start date has now pushed back to end of July, the A330 was reduced to just one aircraft, and now the reduction to just one of each. I really wont be suprised if this is pushed back again to October.

These reductions however, in all fairness to them, are hardly the fault of Aer Lingus. Could anyone really have known how long Covid would be limiting the travel industry as a whole?

In fairness the launch of services is the only piece of firm data you have and that was always the plan. The second 330 isn’t needed for the schedule the neo to Boston was delayed due to the ongoing travel restrictions resulting from the ludicrous Covid policy and Boston being summer only.

the plan for the July launch is what was planned and has not since changed and I see no reason to be nervous about it

Our sources of info may differ Cumbrianboy.

Yes they probably do. It seems to me all is going according to plan though

TURIN

I'm not sure where you got May from, but that was never a 'plan', simply a rumour. When things were announced, the plan, was two aircraft in 2021, followed by another in 2022. As with literally everything in aviation these days, things are changing, so that may well become 2 aircraft in 2022 or none. So ultimately your 'fear' is based on rumours and as I said, nothing has changed.

Sadly, I cannot reveal my sources. It was not from rumour. But I will stick to what I have said. Nothing is going to plan. At all.

It can't go to plan as bookings can't gain any momentum until a realistic idea of when UK-US travel will become normalised, and I don't mean the whole family of mum, dad and several kids masked up in a tube for nine long hours whilst paying hundred of pounds each and queueing for 4-5 hours to get in or worse, back in!

I called Summer 2020 a write off early last year, Summer 2021 will be equally non existent in these markets. It's nearly May and people haven't begun booking. If we're open again by 21 Jun in the UK, there will rightly be pressure to get our own house in order before open again to the world.

Can you clarify this please? Are you referring to just 2021 or the longer term? My understanding was 2 based for later this year depending on when things open up and how bookings react, and 3 a/c next year if Boston is introduced. There was talk of 4 based going forward if the operation proved successful.

Skipness One Foxtrot

Short-haul services used "Aer Lingus" until the adoption of "Shamrock" for the whole operation. My memory as to when this occurred is unclear - late 1980s or early 1990s, I'd say.

It wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if the launch was pushed back a couple of months, the reopening of travel hasn’t happened as expected and we’re still none the wiser on what will or won’t be allowed so forward bookings must be almost non-existent.

What Aer Lingus (and other airlines) will be aware of though is how quickly demand picked up last summer during that brief window of opportunity when everything reopened. If the government give the go ahead, there’ll be a sudden rush of bookings and any airline will want to be ready and waiting to start operations.