Aer Lingus Fleet/ Routes Discussion Pt 2 (ALL possible routes included)

Noxegon

I can only assume that they found something in Newquay that was deemed an uneconomical repair. C'est la vie.

EchoIndia

No, it was retired from service and ferried to NQY for parking before the flight to NOC - possibly to enable certain equipment etc. to be removed for future use by Aer Lingus.

TheBetsy

Its a shame imo that they are retiring aircraft as the NEOs come in, instead of using the opportunity to expand the fleet.

Tenger

The fleet hasn't really grown over the last 10 years.

While they make a big deal about the A321LR/XLRs the shorthaul operation seems like the poor cousin. I would like to see a bit of expansion to facilitate more transfer traffic on the USA-DUB-Europe network. EG. Daily flights up to 2x daily. 3x weekly up to 5x weekly etc. Chop those routes over winter if needed.

Yes, this would result in a drop in loadfactor on those routes. But it would ensure that they have resilience in their DUB transfer operation. And by offering cheaper tickets they could (over time) build up those load factors with point to point traffic.

Like the MAN base, it takes a C Suite decision to say "lets take the short term hit to absorb the financial loss in order to build a better operations in 12-24 months"

JCX BXC

They do seem rather stagnant, the only interest EI seem to have in regards to expansion is stateside, and thats not an endless pot of gold.

goingnowhere

Fly to SFO or SEA from Dublin and see any number of Google/Facebook/Amazon/Microsoft people in economy.

cson

Yeah J is definitely the excpetion rather than the rule for most Corporates these days.

Noxegon

I had a business trip at the start of this year to SYD – and I had to fly economy.

kevinandrew

EI-LRD, the A321LR which suffered a tail strike in Washington last month, is on the move to Cincinnati. Seems to be maintaining a cruising altitude of 7700ft.

EchoIndia

In other news, the Privilege Style 757 that has been operating for Aer Lingus for several weeks finishes up tonight and will return to Madrid. However it is being retired and will shortly be flown to the USA for disposal.

p_haugh

On its way at the moment!

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121177295#Comment_121177295

Unpressurized presumably. Why Cincinatti though?

Astral Nav

Because a specialist repair company with Airbus approval for structural repairs might be based there?

HTCOne

Exactly. Otherwise you're looking at IAD-BGR-YYT-KEF-PIK-TLS or similar at that altitude.

Hotblack Desiato

Well yeah I was hoping somone might be able to answer that question!

Sexual Chocolate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121183025#Comment_121183025

Wouldn't even come to that surely with the Alabama facility ?

HTCOne

Do they do the repair you need, how much do they charge and when do they next have a hangar slot available? That'll come into it too.

chasing_ghosts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121175631#Comment_121175631

I'm currently on an internship at a small leasing company, and everyone seems to fly in business whenever they're called to various spots around the world. Maybe it's an exception but from what I can see - they could do with making economy the only option!

goingnowhere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121190728#Comment_121190728

Finance people have little care for cost and leasing companies are literally swimming in cash so enjoy it while it lasts, grab all the airmiles

goodlad_ourvlad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120552152#Comment_120552152

name of wifi system that uses VHF/UHF as backhaul over land?

L1011

Gogo in the US use UHF (850Mhz) and microwave (3Ghz) for ground to air internet.

goodlad_ourvlad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121195067#Comment_121195067

I'm aware of their service, I'm not aware of a European service yet?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121195152#Comment_121195152

There's 5G Air to Ground in Europe, which might actually dip as low as UHF frequencies; I'm not sure and can't quickly find what they use.

HTCOne

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121195152#Comment_121195152

From what I’ve read, in Germany Deutsche Telekom and in France Orange are providing VHF/UHF A2G internet for airlines.

Noxegon

Icelandair and Finnair both have WiFi on board their short haul flights. No idea what they use.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121200020#Comment_121200020

It would have to be satellite based for Icelandair considering the lack of ground under much of their routes. Usually Ku-band

California Dreamer

Talking about this stuff in this thread is almost as pointless as talking about Las Vegas! 😗😉🤔

MICKEYG

Flew KLM during the week.

App is so far ahead of Aer Lingus. Gate updates, time updates etc. Delivered immediately. Able to change your seat without issue even after boarding pass is issued.

I imagine you can check in online if a multi city booking but can't confirm. All I know is it is beyond Aer Lingus.

None of this is hard to do if the will is there.

kevinandrew

The Aer Lingus app is light years behind its nearest rivals, it hasn’t actually advanced in terms of basic capabilities since they first launched it over a decade ago.

You can book flights, add some extras and check in pretty easily but everything else is either a clumsy mess or simply not possible.

Ryanair delivers gate information, often in advance of the airport boards and even its on board menu is a simplified, app friendly version available to view offline. Aer Lingus only started uploading their menu to the app this year and then it took them a couple of months to make it available offline. Worse still, it’s just the PDF of the printed menu which isn’t ideal for phone screens.

They can change the way the app and website look however many times they want but it’s pointless if the technology behind it is still decades too old.

p_haugh

The Aer Lingus app (on android) doesn't even let you save your boarding pass or add it to Google wallet. Every time I try, it complains about not having storage access permission, yet when I go to the settings to enable them, the app supposedly doesn't ask for them!