Aer Lingus BFS Base Opening

WexCan

Well, the time has come. Aer Lingus' Belfast base is starting operations as of tomorrow.

• First set of cabin crew finished training within the last week or so and have been doing their fam flights out of Dublin.
• First A320 positioned to BFS today from DUB.
• AMS and BCN to start tomorrow (10th) and GVA to start on Tuesday (11th).

I'll keep scouring the web and twisting arms to keep you all updated.

ADD: EI-DVE in BFS today to begin ops tomorrow.

Foggy43

Some of my Northern Ireland buddies are very happy at LHR. Competition on the LHRBFS route and hell have the fares dropped. It appears both BMI and Aer Lingus offering flights at £0.01p in the new year. Works out around £40 with all the charges.

We are still scratching our heads as to why Aer Lingus stopped the SNN slots in favour of BFS. Can't see any poblem having a base there.
One question I have is about the cheif at Aer Lingus. Is he or was he a solicitor?

WexCan

Yeah, adding BFS is great, especially if you live to the west of Belfast.

I think the main thing was there was no extra slots in LHR going so to start the BFS service they needed to take them from elsewhere.

Dermot Mannion's an accountant "by trade" as far as I know.

highlydebased

Sure its EI-DVE? My sources have it as DEK

WexCan

Could be mistaken but have a few people telling me it's VE, also makes sense as the crew have been told the base will be launched with one of the newer aircraft.

highlydebased

Looks like VE' was working out of DUB this morning at least

ACARS mode: 1 Aircraft reg: EI-DVE [Airbus A320]
Message label: ** Block id: @ Msg no: 0906
Flight id: EI0651 [FRA-DUB] [Aer Lingus]
Message content:-
SBS-1 Callsign: EIN65W

---

[ 09/12/2007 09:52 ]-

ACARS mode: 1 Aircraft reg: EI-DVE [Airbus A320]
Message label: ** Block id: @ Msg no: 1610
Flight id: EI0650 [DUB-FRA] [Aer Lingus]

---

[ 09/12/2007 08:04 ]-


DEK is also working out of DUB as at 1900 so it is unlikely that is her

ACARS mode: 2 Aircraft reg: EI-DEK [Airbus A320]
Message label: Q0 Block id: 8 Msg no: S85A
Flight id: EI0357 [MUC-DUB] [Aer Lingus]

---

[ 09/12/2007 19:10 ]-

ACARS mode: 1 Aircraft reg: EI-DEK [Airbus A320]
Message label: ** Block id: @ Msg no: 24f8
Flight id: EI0356 [EIDW-EDDM] [Aer Lingus]

---

[ 09/12/2007 16:39 ]-

ACARS mode: 2 Aircraft reg: EI-DEK [Airbus A320]
Message label: Q0 Block id: 4 Msg no: S41A
Flight id: EI040R [LIRF-EIDW] [Aer Lingus]

---

[ 09/12/2007 13:44 ]-

ACARS mode: 1 Aircraft reg: EI-DEK [Airbus A320]
Message label: ** Block id: @ Msg no: 2220
Flight id: EI040G [EIDW-LIRF] [Aer Lingus]

---

[ 09/12/2007 08:30 ]-



No reg on the positioning flight...
ACARS mode: 1 Aircraft reg: NO-REG [ ]
Message label: ** Block id: @ Msg no: 2545
Flight id: EI0092 [EIDW-EGAA] [Aer Lingus]

---

[ 09/12/2007 17:28 ]-

ch252

EI-DEK
http://flyinginireland.com/eireg.php?Registration=EI-DEK&Submit=Submit
EI-DVE
http://flyinginireland.com/eireg.php?Registration=EI-DVE&Submit=Submit
Tis DEK!

WexCan

I'm lost, what does lack of picture prove?

Neon-Circles, DVE's looking like the best bet - no low cost airline worth their salt would have an aircraft on a single FRA rotation in a day. From what I hear she arrived in BFS somewhere between 1600 and 1700.

WexCan

Everything seems to be going well, first departure to AMS left 5 minutes early, good loads too apparently though that's to be expected

highlydebased

It was Saint Aideen......... Aer Lingus website puts that as DVE

WexCan

Ah, must buy my sources a pint next time I see them

highlydebased

WexCan wrote: »

Ah, must buy my sources a pint next time I see them

lol :P

Henry Ford III

I hear bookings are poor. Quite frankly I hope they loose their shirt up there. They did before didn't they?

Pulling the SNN-LHR service is unforgivable.

WexCan

New info is that loads weren't actually all that fantastic on the first flight (AMS), and one must remember that a lot of the pax were journos.

I'd say they'll do reasonably well on LHR/AMS with the BA/KL codeshares. The other routes remain to be seen, especially with direct competition from easyJet on almost every route and from jet2 on some.

WexCan

Just found this:

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/trip_reports/read.main/114664/

Trip report by a person on the first BFS-AMS flight yesterday, some good vids and pics.

Interesting to see the Irish announcements weren't used.

Davidth88

Just back from AMS

Last night at 20:40 , you had

Gate D2 .... EI A320 going to Cork
Gate D4 .... EI A321 Going to Dublin ( with me on it wanting to get home having missed the 17:50 flight because of a crash on the motorway )
Gate D6 .... EI A320 going to Belfast

WexCan

Talking to dispatcher in BFS today, asked him how EI was doing, evening AMS - 20 pax and 11 bags booked.

eidub

Henry Ford III wrote: »

I hear bookings are poor. Quite frankly I hope they loose their shirt up there. They did before didn't they?

Pulling the SNN-LHR service is unforgivable.

I know it wasn't a popular decision down the west, but why is it unforgivable exactly?


In addition, if loads are poor at the moment, I suppose thats to be expected as the base is still very much in its infancy, things will pick up no doubt.

WexCan

eidub wrote: »

In addition, if loads are poor at the moment, I suppose thats to be expected as the base is still very much in its infancy, things will pick up no doubt.

This is very true, but from what I understand forward bookings have been below expectations.

What I'd love to know is why EI has chosen routes which all have some form of direct/indirect competition from other airlines.

• BFS-AMS also operated by easyJet.
• BFS-GVA also operated by easyJet.
• BFS-BCN also operated by easyJet and Jet2.
• BFS-LHR has indirect competition from easyJet BFS-LGW/LTN/STN, bmi BHD-LHR, flybe BHD-LGW, Ryanair BHD-STN. In fairness to this route though, it's a good one for onward connections, especially for those west of Belfast.
• BFS-FCO has indirect competition from easyJet BFS-CIA.
• BFS-BUD is competition-free.
• BFS-AGP also operated by easyJet and Jet2.
• BFS-FAO also operated by easyJet.
• BFS-NCE also operated by easyJet.

If you were to take a look at frequencies, EI is a bit lacking. For example, for Summer 2008, easyJet is offering up to 15 flights daily to the three London airports. They may not be Heathrow but for the majority of leisure passengers London is London, and for a lot of business travellers the other London airports are more convenient.

EI does, of course, have a lot going for it, so it will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

eidub

WexCan wrote: »

This is very true, but from what I understand forward bookings have been below expectations.

Yes I have heard mixed reports along these lines, but I suppose you have to keep in mind that considering there was all the uncertainty about the base opening and the possible delays with the industrial disputes, people may not have wanted to risk booking flights that may have been disrupted.

i agree there is an awful lot of competition up there, but I suppose thats the case everywhere these days, so I think this one will need some time to settle and the base can prove itself or not as the case may be!!

WexCan

Exactly. Hopefully things will pick up during the Summer, and I can see the LHR route doing quite well.

Foggy43

The end of SNN LHR and today the BFS LHR route starts for Aer Lingus. A jounalist from the mid west said she could not book a SNN JFK flight next winter. I tried myself just to see what happens and sure enough the EI website says the LHR JFK flights end October 25, 2008.

Am I safe in saying Aer Lingus will be gone from SNN after next October? Are the longhaul flights moving to BFS also or is it the same flight numbers but just overflying Shannon. The DUB SNN flights must also be coming to an end as I am sure should when I tried to book a SNN JFK flight I would be offered SNN-DUB-JFK.

therecklessone

Foggy43 wrote: »

The end of SNN LHR and today the BFS LHR route starts for Aer Lingus. A jounalist from the mid west said she could not book a SNN JFK flight next winter. I tried myself just to see what happens and sure enough the EI website says the LHR JFK flights end October 25, 2008.

Three things:

1. Try booking DUB JFK for a date after 25th October.

2. Try booking any flight ex-Dub for the same time period.

3. Ring up the journalist and tell her she sucks at her job.

Foggy43

therecklessone wrote: »

Three things:

1. Try booking DUB JFK for a date after 25th October.

2. Try booking any flight ex-Dub for the same time period.

3. Ring up the journalist and tell her she sucks at her job.

What are you talking about

therecklessone

Foggy43 wrote: »

What are you talking about

You cannot book any flights beyond the 25th October on the EI website because they have not loaded their winter schedule into the site yet.

Among all of the examples I've tried I get this for BFS-LHR:

Flights do not operate on your selected travel date/s. Aer Lingus operates from Jan 14 2008 - Oct 25 2008 on days Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

Rineanna

Foggy43 wrote: »

What are you talking about

He's 100% correct; the flights just aren't loaded into the booking engine yet. It's a frequent occurence, yet there's always an ill-informed journalist trying to create controversy based on absolute crap-all fact.

Foggy43 wrote:

Am I safe in saying Aer Lingus will be gone from SNN after next October? Are the longhaul flights moving to BFS also or is it the same flight numbers but just overflying Shannon.

You are far from safe in saying that EI will be gone from SNN after next October. Short-haul, yes. Long-haul, no. There's a good chance, however, that EI will take advantage of the O/S agreement to make the ORD flight go direct DUB-ORD, and a possible reduction in frequency on the BOS/JFK routes.

highlydebased

Cargo is quite high on ORD, dunno if they'd pull that or not.

EI-DVH the ex SNN aircraft now based at BFS.

Foggy43

therecklessone, Rineanna

I see your point. Usually you can book online up to 12 months in advance. I never knew Aer Lingus could be this slow online. But then I always book at the last minute.

Cargo in SNN? What ever happened to Aer Turas? Must admit the last time I saw one of their freighters was 1988. A DC8 I think.

highlydebased

Freight carried on the EI125 SNN-DUB-ORD is high, obviously there is no dedicated freighter service

FlutterinBantam

Foggy43 wrote: »

therecklessone, Rineanna

I see your point. Usually you can book online up to 12 months in advance. I never knew Aer Lingus could be this slow online. But then I always book at the last minute.

Cargo in SNN? What ever happened to Aer Turas? Must admit the last time I saw one of their freighters was 1988. A DC8 I think.

Super DC8... they ceased to fly years ago.

Rineanna

Neon-Circles wrote: »

Freight carried on the EI125 SNN-DUB-ORD is high, obviously there is no dedicated freighter service

Have AF stopped their Saturday 747F flights, routing CDG-SNN-ORD?