Toulouse/Dublin route by Aer lIngus

[shark1]

Strange...
When I want to book a flight between TLS and DUB for the winter period the system tell me that there will be no flights between november and march... and when I go to "timetable" I can see that the route will operate twice weekly for this period...
I sent 2 mails to Aer Lingus but I have no answer !
Is anybody have any information please ?

[Whispering Giant]

It could be that they have'nt release there winter timetable or seat allocations into the booking system for sale yet....

Most airline's are only just starting to sell there seats for there winter timetable over the next month or so.

brgds
W.G

[Toulouse]

Hi Shark1,

Funny, I posted the exact same question on various other forums.
I rang Aer Lingus reservations (now in the UK) and they didn't know.
Then I rang Aer Lingus Customer care in Dublin and after being put on wait for a while, the nice lady came back say unfortunately "and much to her own surprise" EI won't be operating between DUB and TLS this winter due to poor loads last winter season.
Maybe Ryanair doind DUB-Carcassonne on the exact same days but at slightly more sociale departure times has affected them. Personnally, I'm absoloutel P***** off that they're stopping this route for winter. I don't understand, with all the ski traffic in winter (if you chcek statistics on TLS web site, you'll see there was a big increase on DUB-TLS traffic last winter, over 100%+ increase in previous year, yet EI seems to have missed out on this market segment).
Well, back to pricey connections with AF via CDG for the winter apparently! :(

[Toulouse]

On a side note, EI 532 arrived today and is now stuck in TLS until tomorrow I imagine (I saw the crews leaving for the city/accommodation) around 3 pm today. Fire crews are on strike and all flights cancelled. EI 532 was the last plane to land before the full cancellation of all flights.

[WHBM]

The ski traffic is not as lucrative as you might hope. Nothing at all until the week before Christmas, which makes October - December on such routes bleak. Incidentally, the need to ramp up ski weekend capacity a couple of days before Christmas is what leads to the Lapland charters in the weeks before, as there is spare time in the aircraft programmes.

Then all the demand is on Saturday and Sunday mornings, not a lot for the rest of the week.

[Toulouse]

Agree with you EHBM. Earlier I was just finishing a long reponse to you as I believe EI haven't focused this service correctly and have been beaten by FR (Carcassonne/Boarritz) which will continue throughout the winter. Anyway, some how I lost the whole post.

On another note re. EI's flight yesterday/toady to Toulouse from RTE:
****************
Stranded passengers due back in Dublin

28 June 2005 11:27
Around 100 Aer Lingus passengers who were stranded in France overnight were due to arrive in Dublin about 10am this morning.

Their flight was scheduled to leave Toulouse yesterday morning but was cancelled because of a firefighters' strike.

That action ended early today.


Aer Lingus said the strike was out of its control and that passengers spent the night at the airport.
*****************

So another clear Low Cost reaction from EI... left their stranded passengers at the terminal over night. What is legislation on this since the delay clearly wasn't EI's fault, but still, if this happened to me, and especially if I wasn't a frequent EI passenger, I'm not so sure how inclined I'd be to use EI again. What do you all think?

[Tom the Tenor]

Anyone care to guess how many EI A320s are going to be parked up idle this coming winter season due to poor bookings?

The Willy Walsh policy of doing a FR and depending on one aircraft type, the A320, is now becoming a little faulty?

There are some other EI routes that have loads of about 100/120 and you would have to question what the fate of such routes will be in winter 05/06.

Maybe EI could off load an A320 or two to EIR and then have enough of a deposit for a few ERJ 190/5s!

The newer thinner EI routes badly miss the 737-500 size aircraft.

[Toulouse]

Totally agree with you Tom the Tenor. I always thought the all A320 fleet was insane for an airline like Aer Lingus. I was amazed there were no 319's or even 318's taken... or as you say some of the larger Embraer.

As an Irish man living in Toulouse, I'm really annoyed about the dropping of DUB-TLS for the winter season.

[Bearcat]

Toulouse, Aer Lingus is not a registered charity. If it was BA, LUFT etc, the same would have happened the pax. Once its out of the airlines realm of responsibilty they dont get involved. In the good old days yes but not todays world.

I'd be more annoyed with the fire fighters being allowed pull the plug as against aer lingus. Fire fighters in most airports around the world are by law not allowed to walk off duty....except good old la france.

Cheers

[WHBM]

Aer Lingus is not a registered charity Correct. It is a customer-facing commercial organisation which depends like many on a high level of repeat business and regular customers for most of its revenue. In my own business we could look after our customers well and pleasantly, or we could tell them "Tough. Not my problem" about things that happen along the way. Our business has done quite well. Guess which of these two approaches is our one.

And while there may indeed be some low fares around nowadays, the whole low fare thing tends to lose sight of the fact that there are plenty of travellers on board who, like me, book the day before or choose the "fully flexible" fares but still get treated as if we had paid peanuts.

Yes, I do pay £250 return London to Dublin with Ryanair, Stansted being my most convenient departure point and me not knowing when my business meetings will finish. But I get exactly the same service as those paying £5 each way. In fact I am of course subsidising those passengers. Ryanair and Aer Lingus don't make their profits from those fares, they make them from me and my fellows.

BTW "Registered Charity" is a tax status. Not a business plan.

Toulouse : Real bummer when what you describe happens with posts, isn't it :(

[Toulouse]

Bearcat... I never blamed EI, and yes, my anger would be towards the fire fighters for bringing havoc to thousands of passengers for over 24 hours. Yet, WHBM has answered your claim of Aer Lingus not being a "charity" very well!

Now, and this is pure sepculation, I repear PURE SEPCULATIONS? but a number of flights due into TLS before the EI flight and all flights after DIVERTED, so I imagine ATC probably informed the crews of the semi strike and looking "complete" strike. While all other crews selected to divert, but EI didn't, maybe hoping to get a bit of "Irish luck" and manage a quick turnaround and get back out in time, they even announced that the TLS-DUB was boarding, and then full strike hit... so IF this were the case, could EI not be "technically" to blame...

And don't bash me... I love Aer Lingus. Just my, possibly "over active imagination" in full swing today??

What do you think?

[shark1]

Hello everyone,
Today I called Aer Lingus in Paris and the lady told me on the phone that the Toulouse-Dublin route won't be operate next winter.
She thinks that it will be restored next spring. It will probably be a seasonal service.
Cheers
Shark1

[Toulouse]

Shark1,

Indeed, I phoned EI in Dublin and DUB-TLS is off from the end of October until the end of March 06. So yes it is becoming seasonal service. She did say she wouldn't be surprised to see this route returning to a year-round service again soon... but that last bit was just her opinion. On aerlingus.com you can already book DUB-TLS flights for spring/summer 2006