Aer Lingus Fleet/Routes Discussion

joeysoap

Locker10a wrote: »

Did anyone fly with EI over Xmas and notice they’d done away with Xmas boarding music? Maybe I was just unlucky but on my flights the boarding music wasn’t the usual Xmas songs they’d normally play this time of year !?

There on both my trips one before and one after Christmas, cabin crew were decked out in raindeer horns, Santa hats and festive headgear. Fair play.

Anyone hear IAG are going to be on the planes?

Noxegon

Locker10a wrote: »

Did anyone fly with EI over Xmas and notice they’d done away with Xmas boarding music? Maybe I was just unlucky but on my flights the boarding music wasn’t the usual Xmas songs they’d normally play this time of year !?

For what it’s worth I’ve taken a few domestic flights on Vietjet this week, and they’ve been playing this “gem”:

https://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/last-christmas-ep/917635792

Hearing it repeatedly has given me a renewed appreciation of the Ryanair boarding music.

kevinandrew

I think it needs to be cleared up that IAG is not a brand, it is, to the passenger at least, an invisible holding company that has no desire to be known as anything otherwise. I think the misconception stems from comparisons to the Lufthansa Group which does things slightly differently, those airlines are all made to work very closely with each other and most importantly with Lufthansa. The branding is subtle but it lets the everyday consumer know that these carriers are all under the same umbrella and owned by Lufthansa. Everything those airlines do is almost always for the benefit of big, bad Lufty! 


The IAG airlines are different, there is no dominant airline or leading brand and none of them are encouraged to work together network or fleet wise unless it works for them individually which is why we see Aer Lingus and BA work closely but not so much Aer Lingus and Iberia. Most of the synergies are behind the scenes, you can fly Aer Lingus or British Airways twice a week for a year and not see a single mention of IAG during your journey. The most visible thing they share are the sick bags, seriously, take a look next time you fly. 


There has been absolutely zero indication from IAG that they intend to align their airlines to represent some kind of group brand, the talk of an "IAG standard" livery or a new IAG uniform is all complete rubbish from what I can see. Yes, the livery is likely to be eurowhite with a green tail and engines but I can guarantee that those decisions would have been made in Shamrock House and not IAG headquarters. If anything IAG hates expenditure and rebrands are an expensive task!

Locker10a

kevinandrew wrote: »

I think it needs to be cleared up that IAG is not a brand, it is, to the passenger at least, an invisible holding company that has no desire to be known as anything otherwise. I think the misconception stems from comparisons to the Lufthansa Group which does things slightly differently, those airlines are all made to work very closely with each other and most importantly with Lufthansa. The branding is subtle but it lets the everyday consumer know that these carriers are all under the same umbrella and owned by Lufthansa. Everything those airlines do is almost always for the benefit of big, bad Lufty! 


The IAG airlines are different, there is no dominant airline or leading brand and none of them are encouraged to work together network or fleet wise unless it works for them individually which is why we see Aer Lingus and BA work closely but not so much Aer Lingus and Iberia. Most of the synergies are behind the scenes, you can fly Aer Lingus or British Airways twice a week for a year and not see a single mention of IAG during your journey. The most visible thing they share are the sick bags, seriously, take a look next time you fly. 


There has been absolutely zero indication from IAG that they intend to align their airlines to represent some kind of group brand, the talk of an "IAG standard" livery or a new IAG uniform is all complete rubbish from what I can see. Yes, the livery is likely to be eurowhite with a green tail and engines but I can guarantee that those decisions would have been made in Shamrock House and not IAG headquarters. If anything IAG hates expenditure and rebrands are an expensive task!

I largely agree, however it should be noted that the Aer Lingus Cargo terminal, behind the south gates. Which always had an Aer Lingus Cargo sign on it, recently had the sign changed to “IAG Cargo” so on some levels they do have branding.

jesus_thats_gre

I thought they are planning to standardise cabins across their fleets too? I think the new seats for the A320 and A321 will be standard across BA and Iberia - includes retrofitting them to the non-neo fleet.

kevinandrew

Locker10a wrote: »

I largely agree, however it should be noted that the Aer Lingus Cargo terminal, behind the south gates. Which always had an Aer Lingus Cargo sign on it, recently had the sign changed to “IAG Cargo” so on some levels they do have branding.

It's true IAG Cargo is now the overall cargo division for the group but as this side of the business had very little brand awareness or loyalty at each individual airline, it made sense to rebrand them under one umbrella. In terms of the passenger facing business, the company is very much an invisible force and intends to stay that way. 

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

I thought they are planning to standardise cabins across their fleets too? I think the new seats for the A320 and A321 will be standard across BA and Iberia - includes retrofitting them to the non-neo fleet.

They are but they'll still be individually branded. IAG plans to standardise some fittings, like economy seats, IFE, connectivity, and the toilets on board. None of this standardisation will be noticeable to the passenger as being an IAG initiative, Aer Lingus, Iberia and Level already have the same economy seats on newer A330s but in totally different colour combinations. It's easier and cheaper to bulk order a standard economy seat and standard fittings. Same goes for IFE and connectivity provider. 

Everything else will be unique to the individual airline from the cabin colour options to physical layouts and seat counts. Any premium cabins will be bespoke unless it happens that one product is deemed suitable by two or more airlines within the group. Aer Lingus obviously has the Thompson Vantage, while British Airways has an in house design and Iberia uses the Stelia Solstys in different variations.

Shamrockj

Has anyone else noticed if you make a booking for Dublin - Minneapolis
Dublin - Hartford
Dublin - Philadelphia
Shannon - Boston
Shannon - New York
On the 8th or August it shows all of them operating as 757 by ASL.
So will they be getting another 757 or the system needs to be updated to A321neo?

JCX BXC

Shamrockj wrote: »

Has anyone else noticed if you make a booking for Dublin - Minneapolis
Dublin - Hartford
Dublin - Philadelphia
Shannon - Boston
Shannon - New York
On the 8th or August it shows all of them operating as 757 by ASL.
So will they be getting another 757 or the system needs to be updated to A321neo?

It's an airline booking engine remember, they are not tweaked to such fine detail so I really wouldn't be taking it as a sign for anything.

Tenger

jucylucy wrote: »

Stumbled across a drawing ...white fuselage,green engines and fin with a new shamrock:) Nice!

Image was posted on Facebook a few weeks ago. It’s bland, eurowhite. Mostly white is quicker to apply and easier to design (less decals needed)
Full green tail with teal green shamrock, green engine cowlings. White everywhere else.
Shamrock apparently beside the title on the fuselage.

Usual marketing BS of “mostly white appeals to a wider market” in my opinion.
In 5 years the trend might revert to strong distinctive branding and all the Eurowhite will look dated.
But maybe that’s just me, I think a green cheat line would improve the Eurowhite look.

A330 currently in C check will get new livery and return to Dublin in about 3 weeks. Info from an EI mate who works in fleet scheduling. He says C checks are a little behind at present.

kevinandrew

Tenger wrote: »

jucylucy wrote: »

Stumbled across a drawing ...white fuselage,green engines and fin with a new shamrock:) Nice!

Image was posted on Facebook a few weeks ago. It’s bland, eurowhite. Mostly white is quicker to apply and easier to design (less decals needed)
Full green tail with teal green shamrock, green engine cowlings. White everywhere else.
Shamrock apparently beside the title on th fuselage.

Wasn’t this just someone’s interpretation of what they’d been told by someone at Aer Lingus, not an actual official drawing?

We’ve heard everything from a green tail and rear fuselage like Lufthansa to just a solid green tail, new titles and an entirely new shamrock design, a cheat line or stripe towards the back, green engines and billboard titles. There’s been so many rumours floating about but the only consistent one appears to be the eurowhite aspect.

Tenger

kevinandrew wrote: »

Wasn’t this just someone’s interpretation of what they’d been told by someone at Aer Lingus, not an actual official drawing?
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There’s been so many rumours floating about but the only consistent one appears to be the eurowhite aspect.

Point taken. The Facebook image was posted up as “just my interpretation” by Andy McKay. However Andy has worked with EI on graphics in the past so his guess has a certain insider knowledge about it.

Regardless of the shade of green or the angle of the shamrock it seems pretty firm that a green version of the Lufthansa livery but with green cowlings is on the cards.
I would hope that they maintain EI-DVM in the 60s livery but I doubt it will be seen as an assets. They may even want to refresh it early on “in order to eliminate any confusion surrounding our new brand refresh”

Captain_Crash

Tenger wrote: »

I would hope that they maintain EI-DVM in the 60s livery but I doubt it will be seen as an assets. They may even want to refresh it early on “in order to eliminate any confusion surrounding our new brand refresh”

DVM will actually be the first A320 to get the new livery as its due in for a repaint in Jan or Feb as it is.

kevinandrew

I think a Lufthansa style livery wouldn’t be too bad. The second we heard about the rebrand I’d accepted that eurowhite was inevitable and have hoped since then that it’s a eurowhite done well. A Lufthansa style tail with the green extending down the rear fuselage and a modernised typeface and shamrock could actually look very sharp.


Aer Lingus has been white before and it looked great, the 1960s design and the variations of it for example. A white livery can be done well but we’ll just have to wait and see if Aer Lingus has executed it properly.

trellheim

hey are but they'll still be individually branded. IAG plans to standardise some fittings, like economy seats, IFE, connectivity, and the toilets on board. None of this standardisation will be noticeable to the passenger as being an IAG initiative, Aer Lingus, Iberia and Level already have the same economy seats on newer A330s but in totally different colour combinations. It's easier and cheaper to bulk order a standard economy seat and standard fittings. Same goes for IFE and connectivity provider.

Lets hope its not the Vueling standard they go with as its awfully cramped. As to branding IAG have very very clear ideas about where each airline fits into a sector, e.g. EI=low-budget etc . Its all in that investor report IAG published a couple of months ago, its linked here somewhere

kevinandrew

trellheim wrote: »

hey are but they'll still be individually branded. IAG plans to standardise some fittings, like economy seats, IFE, connectivity, and the toilets on board. None of this standardisation will be noticeable to the passenger as being an IAG initiative, Aer Lingus, Iberia and Level already have the same economy seats on newer A330s but in totally different colour combinations. It's easier and cheaper to bulk order a standard economy seat and standard fittings. Same goes for IFE and connectivity provider.

Lets hope its not the Vueling standard they go with as its awfully cramped.   As to branding IAG have very very clear ideas about where each airline fits into a sector, e.g.  EI=low-budget etc .  Its all in that investor report IAG published a couple of months ago, its linked here somewhere

The Vueling seat is the new standard unfortunately, it's a non recline, ultra thin seat by Recaro. It will be used by Iberia for short haul economy class while British Airways will only use it on newly delivered aircraft. In short haul business class British Airways and Iberia will use a marginally nicer seat, the BE Aerospace Pinnacle, while BA will also keep this seat throughout its older aircraft, they'll just reduce the pitch to maintain a common seat count.

Luckily, Aer Lingus was never included in this original order for new seats or indeed the wider standardisation plan. Currently there appears to be no intention to retrofit or densify the current narrowbody fleet at Aer Lingus and we probably won't see any changes until a new aircraft order is placed which could be some years off yet. 

As for Aer Lingus' place within IAG, the group identifies Aer Lingus as a 'Value' operator along with Iberia Express. The low cost carriers of the group are Vueling and Level with the full service sector headed up by Iberia and British Airways.

vectorvictor

kevinandrew wrote: »

As for Aer Lingus' place within IAG, the group identifies Aer Lingus as a 'Value' operator along with Iberia Express. The low cost carriers of the group are Vueling and Level with the full service sector headed up by Iberia and British Airways.

It would seem they don't have a particularly good grip on what they have bought or where it fits.

EI, whilst far from premium, do a far better service delivery than BA short-mid haul. Percy pigs anyone? And I would argue a better attempt at Long haul up to J level too (No F to compare with of course)

jesus_thats_gre

vectorvictor wrote: »

It would seem they don't have a particularly good grip on what they have bought or where it fits.

EI, whilst far from premium, do a far better service delivery than BA short-mid haul. Percy pigs anyone? And I would argue a better attempt at Long haul up to J level too (No F to compare with of course)

Hmmm I would personally argue that BA have a superior short haul service. There isn't major differences by any means but I do find it a more pleasant experience.

I would agree with you that Long Haul Business on Aer Lingus is better than BA though.

vectorvictor

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Hmmm I would personally argue that BA have a superior short haul service. There isn't major differences by any means but I do find it a more pleasant experience.

I would agree with you that Long Haul Business on Aer Lingus is better than BA though.

That's interesting. Tbf all I have to compare is LON-DUB. Is it the more civilised air of BA or do you find they exceed on the hard product/service somehow? I do like their Lcy service - very relaxed.

duskyjoe

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

I would agree with you that Long Haul Business on Aer Lingus is better than BA though.

just shows how BA’s luxury product has fallen through the floor.

kevinandrew

On short haul down the back I wouldn’t say there’s much difference in BA or Aer Lingus at all. The people who tend to enjoy BA the most are those up front or members of their frequent flyer programme but this is nothing new, BA for the average economy passenger has always been pretty poor for the best part of 20 years. Not even a free bag of crisps could change my mind about that.


The overall experience at BA is probabaly a fraction better than Aer Lingus at their respective home bases, BA has better lounges and check in facilities (when it doesn’t break down) and boarding is a very relaxed, leisurely affair but once on board the gap narrows.


IAG identifies its airlines the way it does for a number of reasons, the direction they want the airline going in, the overall perception of the brand with the flying public and the individual airline management visions for their respective carriers.

trellheim

BA for the average economy passenger has always been pretty poor for the best part of 20 years

This is very true. Some of the seats are ridiculously cramped.

jesus_thats_gre

vectorvictor wrote: »

That's interesting. Tbf all I have to compare is LON-DUB. Is it the more civilised air of BA or do you find they exceed on the hard product/service somehow? I do like their Lcy service - very relaxed.

Hmmm 75% of my short haul trips are Dublin to LHR (about 30 trips a years) and I would generally do about two thirds of them with BA. As I said, there isn't major differences by any means but I, in particular, prefer the lighting in BA flights.

The broader BA experience when you have status is also that bit better.

jesus_thats_gre

duskyjoe wrote: »

just shows how BA’s luxury product has fallen through the floor.

It's crazy. The service, relative to the cost to some destinations like Cairo, is a disgrace. I found myself flying with Royal Jordanian for my last trip - was close to a third of the price and their 787 experience is quite good.

jesus_thats_gre

kevinandrew wrote: »

On short haul down the back I wouldn’t say there’s much difference in BA or Aer Lingus at all. The people who tend to enjoy BA the most are those up front or members of their frequent flyer programme but this is nothing new, BA for the average economy passenger has always been pretty poor for the best part of 20 years. Not even a free bag of crisps could change my mind about that.


The overall experience at BA is probabaly a fraction better than Aer Lingus at their respective home bases, BA has better lounges and check in facilities (when it doesn’t break down) and boarding is a very relaxed, leisurely affair but once on board the gap narrows.

About sums it us for me. An average joe would struggle to separate them but BA does pip it when you have status with both.

cson

Having flown EI-LBR & LBT recently I have to say the 757s are not in great shape, those A321's are badly needed imo. Noticeable difference between ASL cabin crew and mainline cabin crew too, the latter are so much more attentive.

goingnowhere

cson wrote: »

Having flown EI-LBR & LBT recently I have to say the 757s are not in great shape, those A321's are badly needed imo. Noticeable difference between ASL cabin crew and mainline cabin crew too, the latter are so much more attentive.

Its the same cabin crew they are dual qualified A32x and 757

ozzy jr

cson wrote: »

those A321's are badly needed imo.

What airline are currently operating the type of A321 Aer Lingus are getting?

john boye

ozzy jr wrote: »

What airline are currently operating the type of A321 Aer Lingus are getting?

Think it's only arkia atm, the first one was delivered in November. They've gone for a higher density config though which restricts the range somewhat.

willowthewisp

Hi, if flying no Business class on the Transatlantic flight to Boston Airbus, A330, how are the seats assigned?

Asking because my ticket states , seats to be assigned at check in. Just slightly curious as from the layout I can see that there are some “double seats” and also some single seats.

I wouldn’t like to be on the inside of a double seat, at the risk of disturbing someone else if I wanted to get up/out of my seat to use bathroom etc.

Jack1985

cson wrote: »

Having flown EI-LBR & LBT recently I have to say the 757s are not in great shape, those A321's are badly needed imo. Noticeable difference between ASL cabin crew and mainline cabin crew too, the latter are so much more attentive.

That's odd because both are Aer Lingus Cabin Crew ! ASL Cabin Crew do not operate on the 757.

goingnowhere

willowthewisp wrote: »

Hi, if flying no Business class on the Transatlantic flight to Boston Airbus, A330, how are the seats assigned?

Asking because my ticket states , seats to be assigned at check in. Just slightly curious as from the layout I can see that there are some “double seats” and also some single seats.

I wouldn’t like to be on the inside of a double seat, at the risk of disturbing someone else if I wanted to get up/out of my seat to use bathroom etc.

Use the reference number beginning with 2 on the confirmation and select a seat online or call Aer Lingus direct.

Bear in mind there are 2 different layouts which particularly impact the row A

Simon Gruber Says

willowthewisp wrote: »

Hi, if flying no Business class on the Transatlantic flight to Boston Airbus, A330, how are the seats assigned?

Asking because my ticket states , seats to be assigned at check in. Just slightly curious as from the layout I can see that there are some “double seats” and also some single seats.

I wouldn’t like to be on the inside of a double seat, at the risk of disturbing someone else if I wanted to get up/out of my seat to use bathroom etc.

If you did the Upgrade Yourself, you can't select them online, you have to call. But, if the flight is within 48 hours, then they can't and you will be assigned a seat at check-in.

3K & 5K are by far the best seats. If they're gone, try to get an even numbered A seat (2A, 4A, etc..) as they have better privacy than the odd numbered ones, because of the position of the console.

goingnowhere

Simon Gruber Says wrote: »

If you did the Upgrade Yourself, you can't select them online, you have to call. But, if the flight is within 48 hours, then they can't and you will be assigned a seat at check-in.

3K & 5K are by far the best seats. If they're gone, try to get an even numbered A seat (2A, 4A, etc..) as they have better privacy than the odd numbered ones, because of the position of the console.

This depends on it being a A330-300 vs 200 as they are reversed

Simon Gruber Says

goingnowhere wrote: »

This depends on it being a A330-300 vs 200 as they are reversed

I forgot there's no row 1 on the 200.

billie1b

cson wrote: »

Having flown EI-LBR & LBT recently I have to say the 757s are not in great shape, those A321's are badly needed imo. Noticeable difference between ASL cabin crew and mainline cabin crew too, the latter are so much more attentive.

No ASL cabin crew on the 757’s, only a mixed share of EI and ASL pilots operate them, all cabin crew are EI.

cson

That's weird the difference in service/attitude was day & night between the two sets of crew.

Shn99

Flew on the 757 from SNN-JFK in July 2017..crew were the same as any other flight however i agree the aircraft we flew over on (LBT) was in a sorry state...water wasn’t working and my seat cushion wasn’t even glued on...time for them to go!!!

Locker10a

Shn99 wrote: »

Flew on the 757 from SNN-JFK in July 2017..crew were the same as any other flight however i agree the aircraft we flew over on (LBT) was in a sorry state...water wasn’t working and my seat cushion wasn’t even glued on...time for them to go!!!

In fairness, with the right care there’s no reason those aircraft shouldn’t be in good condition and working order but considering it’s known they’ll be leaving the fleet soon I guess they’re not spending on wear and tear for short term.

theguzman

I flew United's 757 from SNN to EWR in October and it was is much better shape.

TheDriver

Shn99 wrote: »

Flew on the 757 from SNN-JFK in July 2017..crew were the same as any other flight however i agree the aircraft we flew over on (LBT) was in a sorry state...water wasn’t working and my seat cushion wasn’t even glued on...time for them to go!!!

I flew same one in 2018 and well worn, not a good advertisement for Al.

Jack1985

ASL should be maintaining them they handle all aircraft maintenance be that with the air-frame itself and cabin furnishings.

kevinandrew

The 757s are over 20 years old and spent most of their lives on intra European services before getting a rather basic retrofit when they joined ASL for Aer Lingus. The side panels, overhead lockers and passenger control units are all 90s vintage and it shows.


No matter how well maintained the interior is, keeping something that age looking good will always be a loosing battle. This is even more likely if it’s a known fact they won’t be around much longer.


Delta have done a remarkable job upgrading their 757s in recent years, improvements include a totally redesigned cabin with new interior walls, pivot bins, mood lighting and seating. Obviously Delta will keep those birds flying for another decade while ASL is likely to retire their aircraft once the deal with Aer Lingus is over, in a year or two so it’s not a fair comparison but it just shows what can be done.

Jack1985

Some updates for S19 in Cork and Shannon,

ORK-NCE commences earlier then planned on 17/04 instead of 01/05, a mid Thursday slot now exists between 10:20-18:15 for an additional European frequency ex-ORK. The following changes as of 02/01/18 are below.

ORK-AGP - 10pw (Planned 9pw)
ORK-LHR - 28pw (Planned 31pw)
ORK-PMI - 3pw (Planned 4pw)

SNN-FAO (4pw no change) & SNN-AGP (3pw no change) will be operated with the following arrangements for S19:

EI584 DUB1155 - 1555AGP 320 246
EI925 AGP1635 - 1840SNN 320 246

EI896 ORK1315 - 1545FAO 320 1357
EI903 FAO1625 - 1910SNN 320 1357

EI926 SNN1920 - 2315AGP 320 246
EI589 AGP2355 - 0155+1DUB 320 246

EI904 SNN1950 - 2230FAO 320 1357
EI899 FAO2310 - 0145+1ORK 320 1357

Tenger

cson wrote: »

That's weird the difference in service/attitude was day & night between the two sets of crew.

Ive seen that before with airlines (and in hotels)
A cantankerous and/or overbearing manager/team leader makes grumpy staff which ruins the customer experience. The same staff could be great on a different day if given the space to actually perform.

Locker10a

Jack1985 wrote: »

Some updates for S19 in Cork and Shannon,

ORK-NCE commences earlier then planned on 17/04 instead of 01/05, a mid Thursday slot now exists between 10:20-18:15 for an additional European frequency ex-ORK. The following changes as of 02/01/18 are below.

ORK-AGP - 10pw (Planned 9pw)
ORK-LHR - 28pw (Planned 31pw)
ORK-PMI - 3pw (Planned 4pw)

SNN-FAO (4pw no change) & SNN-AGP (3pw no change) will be operated with the following arrangements for S19:

EI584 DUB1155 - 1555AGP 320 246
EI925 AGP1635 - 1840SNN 320 246

EI896 ORK1315 - 1545FAO 320 1357
EI903 FAO1625 - 1910SNN 320 1357

EI926 SNN1920 - 2315AGP 320 246
EI589 AGP2355 - 0155+1DUB 320 246

EI904 SNN1950 - 2230FAO 320 1357
EI899 FAO2310 - 0145+1ORK 320 1357

I was reading Cara today and it was promoting Geneva, said Aer Lingus will serve Geneva from both Shannon and Dublin for summer 2019. Was this announced ?

Kcormahs

Locker10a wrote: »

I was reading Cara today and it was promoting Geneva, said Aer Lingus will serve Geneva from both Shannon and Dublin for summer 2019. Was this announced ?

https://issuu.com/caraaugust/docs/cara_dec_low_res/1?ff

Page 88, it says Dublin to Geneva up to 10 times. No mention of Shannon

kmart6

Random one, do Aer Lingus not update their IFE monthly anymore? Have checked the website for what is playing and hasn't changed from the December listing, which was pretty bad to be honest. Flying back TA to DUB next week and just curious if I'll need to load up the iPad/phone with movies/shows. Could just be a case that the website has not been updated which wouldn't surprise me.

Locker10a

Kcormahs wrote: »

https://issuu.com/caraaugust/docs/cara_dec_low_res/1?ff

Page 88, it says Dublin to Geneva up to 10 times. No mention of Shannon

I actually took a photo of it on my phone but as I’m using boards on my phone I don’t know how to attach the photo. It 100% mentions Shannon Geneva in the copy of Cara that was in my seat. Must have been a misprint.

Shn99

Locker10a wrote: »

I actually took a photo of it on my phone but as I’m using boards on my phone I don’t know how to attach the photo. It 100% mentions Shannon Geneva in the copy of Cara that was in my seat. Must have been a misprint.

If you need to upload from a phone i usually use this crowd https://imgbb.com/
And then you copy the link and paste it here

marno21

Shannon-Geneva would be a very random route to start - especially with Swiss expanding at Cork to Zurich and the existing Helvetic route at Shannon

Presumably EI-JSK will be the only flight from Shannon to Geneva yet again next summer