Aer Lingus Fleet/Routes Discussion

flange888

kevinandrew wrote:

The next A321LR has also been spotted in Hamburg, EI-LRD is in primer with its tail painted. Still a good few months away at this stage.

February I suspect...

EIMH

EIMH wrote: »

Next A330 first flight today

EI-EIM Aer Lingus Airbus A330-302
Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN) 1950
Aircraft Type Airbus A330-302
First Flight 21 Nov 2019
Age 0.0 Years
Test registration F-WWCR

Won’t be seen in Ireland for quite some time. I’m told she’s going in to storage in Malta till Feb/Mar. Where as the 2nd one due is coming to Dublin, I think to be stored for a while.

Jamie2k9

Deleted User wrote: »

Won’t be seen in Ireland for quite some time. I’m told she’s going in to storage in Malta till Feb/Mar. Where as the 2nd one due is coming to Dublin, I think to be stored for a while.

Asset Depreciation at play here. Think they did this a few years ago as well.

Hotblack Desiato

Waiting for the 201 plate

Tenger

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Asset Depreciation at play here. Think they did this a few years ago as well.

Yup. Parked up an A333 near the tower in Dublin for about 3 months.

goingnowhere

Its nice and dry in Malta...

The question is it is leased and when does the lease actually start. EI have no need of a new bird until March at the earliest.

basill

Time will tell. These types of plans have been employed over the years only to quickly be reversed when something breaks down and hire ins are required. It then inevitably ends up in tears and additional costs that would have otherwise not been incurred had they just entered the aircraft into service in the first place and used it as a spare.

EI321

I suspect a shortage of Pilots is playing a role in this.

0lddog

EI321 wrote: »

I suspect a shortage of Pilots is playing a role in this.

Also, how is the headcount in engineering ?

adam88

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Asset Depreciation at play here. Think they did this a few years ago as well.

What’s the rationale behind this ??

Jamie2k9

adam88 wrote: »

What’s the rationale behind this ??

At a high level, once an asset is brought into use it loses value over it's lifetime and instead of the company waiting to write it off in 15 years they write a small amount off each year. Shareholders wouldn't be pleased if in 15 years there was a 100 million loss because the asset leaves the company, instead they will write off 66k each year.

In this case if they brought it into service on 31 December (year end 31 December) that 24 hours would result in them writing down 66k in it's value because the policy is generally a full year's deprecation in the year it's brought into service. I have not checked what EI's but they will always prefer assets to arrive earlier rather than later in a financial year.

Goingnowhere is probally right here and they could be leased.

Van.Bosch

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

At a high level, once an asset is brought into use it loses value over it's lifetime and instead of the company waiting to write it off in 15 years they write a small amount off each year. Shareholders wouldn't be pleased if in 15 years there was a 100 million loss because the asset leaves the company, instead they will write off 66k each year.

In this case if they brought it into service on 31 December (year end 31 December) that 24 hours would result in them writing down 66k in it's value because the policy is generally a full year's deprecation in the year it's brought into service. I have not checked what EI's but they will always prefer assets to arrive earlier rather than later in a financial year.

Goingnowhere is probally right here and they could be leased.

There would still be depreciation if it’s used or not though.

Jamie2k9

Van.Bosch wrote: »

There would still be depreciation if it’s used or not though.

Not if they don't sign ownership.

kevinandrew

The same was done with EI-GCF;

20/11/17 - Delivered TLS-DUB
15/02/18 - Test Flight DUB-DUB
03/03/18 - Entered Service DUB-JFK

As you’d expect, the aircraft wasn’t needed in mid-winter so went into storage for a few months until it was required. I’m guessing it’s the exact same situation this time around.

California Dreamer

Out of curiosity has there been any mention of SH fleet replacement? 34 A320's with an age of 9-20 years old.

Anyone know the cycles on the oldest birds?

VG31

California Dreamer wrote: »

Out of curiosity has there been any mention of SH fleet replacement? 34 A320's with an age of 9-20 years old.

Lufthansa have plenty of A320s as old as 30 years.

California Dreamer

VG31 wrote: »

Lufthansa have plenty of A320s as old as 30 years.

Yes I get that, and airlines in the US have fleets that are older but thats not what I asked.

Also on closer inspection of the LH fleet it shows replacements as well.

kevinandrew

I'm going to hazard a guess that IAG is holding the cards when it comes to the short haul fleet replacement, I'd expect Aer Lingus will need to issue a request for proposals from the manufacturers, chose the successful proposal and then build a business case for IAG to consider whether the investment will deliver a desired return.

Aer Lingus short haul is likely quite marginal, they'll need to work hard to make a case for brand new aircraft. I wouldn't be surprised to see the previously discussed 'Aer Lingus Express' model or something similar to appear when fleet renewal is considered.

sherology

kevinandrew wrote: »

I'm going to hazard a guess that IAG is holding the cards when it comes to the short haul fleet replacement, I'd expect Aer Lingus will need to issue a request for proposals from the manufacturers, chose the successful proposal and then build a business case for IAG to consider whether the investment will deliver a desired return.

Aer Lingus short haul is likely quite marginal, they'll need to work hard to make a case for brand new aircraft. I wouldn't be surprised to see the previously discussed 'Aer Lingus Express' model or something similar to appear when fleet renewal is considered.

I'm all for newy-newness, but as a passenger, the EI SH cabins I've been on look brand new - even the oldest a321s, and there have rarely been tech issues (although they do happen).

Newer toilet modules would be nice - same for a330 - as they always show 'wear'. Larger bins would be a great addition to stop the 'up-down' cabin trawlers... But I think EI will just lease non-new aircraft if they grab a good deal... The a321lrs and XLRs will mop-up the early morning routes over time, leaving the older-frames on the LCC routes perhaps. Keep'em maintained (proactively preferably - time-limited items), and have a spare.

Locker10a

California Dreamer wrote: »

Out of curiosity has there been any mention of SH fleet replacement? 34 A320's with an age of 9-20 years old.

Anyone know the cycles on the oldest birds?

Pure guess work here, but if IAG go ahead with their MAX order to be distributed to Vueling and BA(LGW) some of the newer 320s even neos ex Vueling might find themselves coming over to EI.
Alternatively older frames might be replaced with second hand birds, I think EI-FNJ/GAL/GAM were previously owned

Tenger

California Dreamer wrote: »

Out of curiosity has there been any mention of SH fleet replacement? 34 A320's with an age of 9-20 years old.

Anyone know the cycles on the oldest birds?

No direct mention in the IAG presentation this month. But the fleet plans did indicate that they expect to get over 100 shorthaul aircraft from 2022-2025. But no type shown or airline destination among the group.

California Dreamer

From a leasing point of view, I would have thought the market was flooded with A320 frames following the collapse of WOW, Monarch, Thomas Cook to name but a few.

Locker10a

California Dreamer wrote: »

From a leasing point of view, I would have thought the market was flooded with A320 frames following the collapse of WOW, Monarch, Thomas Cook to name but a few.

You’re probably right! They’re obviously not looking for any right now!

goingnowhere

Considering they have a whole pile of A321's coming, and will be using them on key EU short haul ops in the morning peak which is the peak fleet utilization time, that gets you a lot of new metal today.

The fleet is maintained to an exceptionally high standard and even the oldest in the fleet look great inside. Only the C reg birds give away there age due the older PSU's

The C reg hulls will likely be pensioned off, but EI owns many of them outright so likely to fly them until they cannot fly. The A321's appear to fly fewer flights per week than the A320's currently, they had a tough life as they spent most of there earlier life on DUB-LHR.

john boye

goingnowhere wrote: »

The C reg hulls will likely be pensioned off, but EI owns many of them outright so likely to fly them until they cannot fly. The A321's appear to fly fewer flights per week than the A320's currently, they had a tough life as they spent most of there earlier life on DUB-LHR.

The A321s usually have a lighter schedule in the winter months.

sherology

john boye wrote: »

The A321s usually have a lighter schedule in the winter months.

The Canaries seems to be their bread-and-butter (over and back all winter biking)... 2 take-offs... 2 landings... 8rs in the air... Easier of the old-joints my joints... Not so much

billy few mates

adam88 wrote: »

What’s the rationale behind this ??

The lease rental normally only becomes payable when you accept the aircraft, no point in accepting an aircraft low season if you don't really need it so they may have decided to delay the EIS until they're sure they can fully utilise it. It's not unusual for aircraft to be delivered straight to storage like this as you can't normally arrange for for them to come out of production at the exact moment you need them.

ohigg84

I noticed that A332 EI-GEY flew to Bordeaux earlier this morning for scheduled maintenance.

I wonder will it get the cabin reconfiguration fitted there, and will it get a cabin crew rest area?

Locker10a

ohigg84 wrote: »

I noticed that A332 EI-GEY flew to Bordeaux earlier this morning for scheduled maintenance.

I wonder will it get the cabin reconfiguration fitted there, and will it get a cabin crew rest area?

I hope so!!

goingnowhere

It won't get crew rest, not needed

Plan is to move SFO/LAX to -300 HGW hulls next Summer (4 hulls for 17 weekly) which would leave SEA as the only -200 crew rest location

Karl8415

Just been looking at recent inserts on Aer Lingus source and I noticed that Ei-CVA entered dub maintenance on nov 10th and came out on 16th however 2 days later on the 18th it went out to Abu Dhabi for more maintenance.Any idea why so much work been carried out on this aircraft

Shamrockj

goingnowhere wrote: »

It won't get crew rest, not needed

Plan is to move SFO/LAX to -300 HGW hulls next Summer (4 hulls for 17 weekly) which would leave SEA as the only -200 crew rest location

At the moment SFO is still down as x7 a week next summer. Will it be added later because the summer schedule was announced?

Karl8415

Karl8415 wrote: »

Just been looking at recent inserts on Aer Lingus source and I noticed that Ei-CVA entered dub maintenance on nov 10th and came out on 16th however 2 days later on the 18th it went out to Abu Dhabi for more maintenance.Any idea why so much work been carried out on this aircraft

Weren’t some of them having serious work done of the cockpit/cockpit window area ? Maybe it’s related.

goingnowhere

Shamrockj wrote: »

At the moment SFO is still down as x7 a week next summer. Will it be added later because the summer schedule was announced?

Slot allocations for Dublin 2020 show extra SFO flights by EI, 3 extra/week has been suggested

Bussywussy

Karl8415 wrote: »

Just been looking at recent inserts on Aer Lingus source and I noticed that Ei-CVA entered dub maintenance on nov 10th and came out on 16th however 2 days later on the 18th it went out to Abu Dhabi for more maintenance.Any idea why so much work been carried out on this aircraft

Cost saving/penny pinching....A330 aircraft a lot of time come back from Heavy Maintenance and EI do an 'A' check and/or even mods

Karl8415

Anyone know why EI-EIM on Aer lingus source is saying the aircraft was delivered but instead of going to Dublin it went to Brussels, any idea when it'll arrive in Dublin or even enter revenue service

EI321

Karl8415 wrote: »

Anyone know why EI-EIM on Aer lingus source is saying the aircraft was delivered but instead of going to Dublin it went to Brussels, any idea when it'll arrive in Dublin or even enter revenue service

It's going into storage until next year apparently.

Tenger

I don't look at that blog too often. But I find it a little odd. The person running seems to get unusual snippets of info. And has an inordinate focus on aircraft going through regular scheduled maintainance.
I suspect the ferry flight was technically a delivery flight (delivery to the leading company) which is why they described it as as such.

kevinandrew

Photographer comment on this shot of EI-EIM suggests it's in Brussels for wifi installation with Lufthansa Technik.

https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/9528254

Says delivery to Aer Lingus in December but I'm guessing it will head down to Malta, or wherever they plan to store it until late February.

EIN123

Interesting that EI-LRA positioned from SNN-DUB after it arrived from Boston. It’s now due back into Shannon at 11:40 from DUB. Does anybody know why? Essential maintenance that couldn’t be carried out at Shannon?

Aviation2K16

EIN123 wrote: »

Interesting that EI-LRA positioned from SNN-DUB after it arrived from Boston. It’s now due back into Shannon at 11:40 from DUB. Does anybody know why? Essential maintenance that couldn’t be carried out at Shannon?

I am wondering was there meant to be an air craft change? EI-LRA positioned to DUB this morning after arriving from BOS. EI-LRB positioned down to Shannon and is operating SNN BOS now.

pm.

kevinandrew wrote: »

Photographer comment on this shot of EI-EIM suggests it's in Brussels for wifi installation with Lufthansa Technik.

https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/9528254

Says delivery to Aer Lingus in December but I'm guessing it will head down to Malta, or wherever they plan to store it until late February.

I'm heading to lax on 31 March any chance I could be on the new A330?

EI321

pm. wrote: »

I'm heading to lax on 31 March any chance I could be on the new A330?

I think LAX will continue to be operated by A330-200s while they are still in the fleet. I think SFO will be the first west coast route to move to all -300s.

goingnowhere

SFO is entirely a -300 operation during the Summer months already, it alternates -300/-200 during the winter schedule

I'd imagine we see LAX go -300 at least part of the week as soon as the 2020 Summer schedule starts

Tenger

If both new aircraft are in service by March 31st then its a 50/50 chance of a new A333.
SFO/LAX will be served by a mix of GCF/GAJ/EIM/EIN as they will be the 300s with bunks.
EI summer schedule usually lasts from the last weekend of March until last weekend of October.

Karl8415

Karl8415 wrote: »

Anyone know why EI-EIM on Aer lingus source is saying the aircraft was delivered but instead of going to Dublin it went to Brussels, any idea when it'll arrive in Dublin or even enter revenue service

Brussels for biz seat installation, they weren’t ready during construction. Then on to Malta for storage till Feb/Mar. Next for Aer Lingus will be delivered to Dublin for storage.

GFrye

Good thing I went back to catch up on this thread
I'm scheduled to fly DUB-IAD at the end of this month, and I would have been mighty surprised if I had stepped on the flight and realized that I wasn't on the expected A321Neo

As others pointed out in September, the initial booking screen on aerlingus.com still shows the A321Neo (as does my flight info on UA, where I booked the ticket), but the seat map shows the A332 config.
While I originally changed my booking to avoid the A332 operating weekdays (because of EI-GEY), I'm fine with the switch back to the A332 for two reasons:
- My selected seat (3K) is still throne seat. I thought one A330 config had the throne seats on even rows instead of odd rows, but maybe I'm simply misremembering.
- With EI-GEY currently in Bordeaux and posts a few months back stating that EI-GEY will receive the upgraded C class cabin around this time, I believe my throne seat is safe.

goingnowhere

3K and 5K are always throne seats across the fleet.

The A seats vary between -200 and -300

Tenger

goingnowhere wrote: »

3K and 5K are always throne seats across the fleet.

And the A321 3A and 5A are additional throne seats too.

My mate was in EI marketing 6ish years back. This number set up was deliberate to allow regulars to be able to select the throne.

goingnowhere

Tenger wrote: »

And the A321 3A and 5A are additional throne seats too.

My mate was in EI marketing 6ish years back. This number set up was deliberate to allow regulars to be able to select the throne.

Problem is word is out and its nigh on impossible to get your hands on one unless you book ages in advance. That said I'm not a fan for an overnight flight, the A row has better leg room in bed mode.

They do need to renumber the A seats for consistency across the fleet, it's quite annoying when a -200 shows up.