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

Tenger

Van.Bosch wrote: »

12 months ago these couldn’t come fast enough, now you’d wonder when it will actually be needed.

They still can’t come fast enough. aer Lingus needs them to keep flying Transatlantic. 184 seats and burns less than half the fuel needed of an A330.*


*figure attributed to a nameless EI F/O who had beers in my house last year!! Not wholly reliable

kevinandrew

Just to follow up my previous post, this confirms 'LRG is on the production line.

https://digitalairliners.com/2021/01/17/log-hamburg-finkenwerder-xfw-17-01-2021/

It means EI-LRF, 'RG and 'RH are all nearing delivery, brining a close to the original A321LR order.

Do we know how the Aer Lingus UK aircraft will be registered? I think I read somewhere it's likely to b G-*LRG, G-*LRH etc.

kona

Tenger wrote: »

They still can’t come fast enough. aer Lingus needs them to keep flying Transatlantic. 184 seats and burns less than half the fuel needed of an A330.*


*figure attributed to a nameless EI F/O who had beers in my house last year!! Not wholly reliable

Burns less than half the fuel alright, but not much room for cargo!

lintdrummer

Just to add to the debate about state aid...
EI has been able to weather the storm thus far but had been banking on a gradual return to profitability from this Summer.
Government rhetoric around travel has been beyond expectation, though cases related to travel in this country have been and remain minimal despite travel inwards to this country being relatively unhindered to this point.
Putting Garda checkpoints at the airport to fine those travelling "without a valid reason" is a step too far IMO.
My point is that EI (and IAG) have a limited cash supply which is going to run out sooner rather than later. Much of the woes the industry faces are as a result of the action and rhetoric from Dáil Éireann. Whether you agree with the policy or not, they have a direct hand in the grounding of the industry and, as a vital part of our infrastructure, the Irish government should be far more proactive about providing assistance to our airlines and our airports.
Yes most industries are affected by the lockdown but many of them rely heavily on our aviation sector. We need to ensure it's still there to get us back up and running when covid is a memory.

EchoIndia

lintdrummer wrote: »

Just to add to the debate about state aid...
EI has been able to weather the storm thus far but had been banking on a gradual return to profitability from this Summer.
Government rhetoric around travel has been beyond expectation, though cases related to travel in this country have been and remain minimal despite travel inwards to this country being relatively unhindered to this point.
Putting Garda checkpoints at the airport to fine those travelling "without a valid reason" is a step too far IMO.
My point is that EI (and IAG) have a limited cash supply which is going to run out sooner rather than later. Much of the woes the industry faces are as a result of the action and rhetoric from Dáil Éireann. Whether you agree with the policy or not, they have a direct hand in the grounding of the industry and, as a vital part of our infrastructure, the Irish government should be far more proactive about providing assistance to our airlines and our airports.
Yes most industries are affected by the lockdown but many of them rely heavily on our aviation sector. We need to ensure it's still there to get us back up and running when covid is a memory.

The more transmissible UK variant that accounts for two-thirds or more of cases now being detected in Ireland was imported largely over the Christmas period. The Garda measures represented actual enforcement of a law that had been in place for a number of months, though the fine has been increased from €100 to €500 in recent days.

lintdrummer

lintdrummer wrote: »

My point is that EI (and IAG) have a limited cash supply which is going to run out sooner rather than later.

€9.34bn in cash reserves at the end of October, that's not exactly limited.

basill

Cash reserves is stretching it a bit to try and make your point. 5bn in cash at September 2020 plus another 2bn from the rights issue. The rest to make up your figure is undrawn debt and overdraft facilities. The majority of the cash will need to be repaid if flights are cancelled. At some point the consumer will want their cash back and not keep on kicking the can down the road for a future holiday. With governments across Europe telling people not to travel then its unclear at this stage how much new cash airlines will be generating from forward bookings to tide them over. Very few airlines can weather two lost summers in a row.

RunningFlyer

[Deleted User] wrote: »

€9.34bn in cash reserves at the end of October, that's not exactly limited.

It’s pretty limiting if the IAG group is haemorrhaging cash at an estimated rate of €900m per month over winter!

IAG results at the end of the month I think will be pretty eye-opening to the severity of the situation, especially with the outlook in Ireland FY21.

lintdrummer

EchoIndia wrote: »

The more transmissible UK variant that accounts for two-thirds or more of cases now being detected in Ireland was imported largely over the Christmas period. The Garda measures represented actual enforcement of a law that had been in place for a number of months, though the fine has been increased from €100 to €500 in recent days.

And our open land border with the UK has more to answer for in that regard than aviation.

jasgrif11

Aerlingus secures €150m from states Covid recovery fund

kona

jasgrif11 wrote: »

Aerlingus secures €150m from states Covid recovery fund

Should cover another 321neo!

MoeJay

Secured in Q4 2020 I see, well before the Government moves to strangle travel for all of 2021.....:(

Tenzor07

jasgrif11 wrote: »

Aerlingus secures €150m from states Covid recovery fund

Should cover a week, what happens to the rest of the month(s)?

EchoIndia

lintdrummer wrote: »

And our open land border with the UK has more to answer for in that regard than aviation.

I bow to your superior knowledge on the matter.

KKieran27

jasgrif11 wrote: »

Aerlingus secures €150m from states Covid recovery fund

Any idea on the conditions attached to it? Any mandatory routes to be kept or employment commitments/no forced redundancies?
Also it says this was withdrawn in Q4 of 2020 could have been October. Any idea on when it was withdrawn? If it took place before the new recently introduced restrictions, it may not be enough.

Tenger

KKieran27 wrote: »

Any idea on the conditions attached to it? Any mandatory routes to be kept or employment commitments/no forced redundancies?
Also it says this was withdrawn in Q4 of 2020 could have been October. Any idea on when it was withdrawn? If it took place before the new recently introduced restrictions, it may not be enough.

It's not "state aid to aviation" as such, so no strings attached.
It's a state sponsored loan facility which is open for ANY Irish company. The 150m will be repaid.

kevinandrew

The tourism minister of Antigua has said they’ve been approached by Aer Lingus regarding flights from Dublin and Manchester.

https://antiguaobserver.com/tourism-minister-talks-up-liat-importance-to-discussions-with-major-airlines/

Sounds like very early discussions following a request for proposals from the airline.

Tenger

I'm sure there is a market from the UK to Antigua. Can't say the same ex-Dublin.

NH2013

Tenger wrote: »

I'm sure there is a market from the UK to Antigua. Can't say the same ex-Dublin.

Perhaps this is the year for it, a delayed summer of staycations in poor weather again, waiting until full vaccination in July/August, those afraid of losing deposits may be reluctant to book a sun holiday for this summer but come Autumn/Winter when the vaccine is rolled out fully and travel reopened the Caribbean could be the perfect winter sun destination for people who haven’t been abroad in 18 months at that stage.

HTCOne

I'd take a holiday in Lagos at this point.

Okay thats a lie but you get my drift. If there was a direct flight to Antigua from Ireland, the travel barriers were up and it was affordable, I'm in. After watching the US for the last 12 months, I've no particular desire to head back anytime soon.

kevinandrew

Here's another A321LR for Aer Lingus;



A321nx AerLingus EI-LRH by Tobias Gudat, on Flickr


The photographer remarks suggest it will be 'EI-LRH' but the last two A321LR were due to be registered to Aer Lingus UK so we'll have to wait and see.

Lapmo_Dancer

kevinandrew wrote: »

The tourism minister of Antigua has said they’ve been approached by Aer Lingus regarding flights from Dublin and Manchester.

https://antiguaobserver.com/tourism-minister-talks-up-liat-importance-to-discussions-with-major-airlines/

Sounds like very early discussions following a request for proposals from the airline.

From DUB via MAN I’d imagine, unfortunately.

goingnowhere

More of a Thomas Cook/Monarch replacement ?

But clearly the business development people are going through any option which is remotely feasible

Gael23

The Dublin to San Francisco direct flight is starting again at the end of March

Gael23

Gael23 wrote: »

The Dublin to San Francisco direct flight is starting again at the end of March

Sadly not, timetable is out of date.

kevinandrew

Lapmo_Dancer wrote: »

From DUB via MAN I’d imagine, unfortunately.

MAN-ANU certainly seems the most likely with a Manchester based A330, anyone looking to set up a Manchester base would be mad not to consider the Caribbean.

Any Dublin involvement would probably come via a marketed connection on the usual schedules. Plenty already use Aer Lingus to Manchester for the Virgin holiday network.

The request for proposals, if it indeed came from Aer Lingus, probably included both Manchester and Dublin. If a Caribbean airport thinks it can make MAN work, great. If they can make both MAN and DUB work, even better.

x567

Most scheduled flights from Europe to the East Caribbean islands (excl BGI) do two destination islands, routing through a larger hub most days (e.g. ANU, UVF) and serving an island with less demand (e.g. GND, POS, TAB, etc) a couple of times a week via short hops from the hub. I presume that there must be a crew and aircraft utilisation logic for this, but adding this to a two-stop departure and arrival (MAN/DUB in whichever order) would probably less attractive to the punters that could face two stops each way and might also be difficult for crew timings.

I’ve argued in pre-Covid times that a weekly or twice weekly DUB-BGI service might make sense for EI and I do think that when more normal times return there will also be good demand from MAN; so whilst the article quoted is probably focused more on boosting LIAT’s Chances of a re-launch, I don’t think a Caribbean route for EI, maybe alternating between DUB and MAN, is too far fetched...

California Dreamer

Fearing the wrath of L1011 maybe they will start a service from Manchester to the little place near LA, you know the one with the slot machines and a couple of bingo halls!!!

joeysoap

x567 wrote: »

Most scheduled flights from Europe to the East Caribbean islands (excl BGI) do two destination islands, routing through a larger hub most days (e.g. ANU, UVF) and serving an island with less demand (e.g. GND, POS, TAB, etc) a couple of times a week via short hops from the hub. I presume that there must be a crew and aircraft utilisation logic for this, but adding this to a two-stop departure and arrival (MAN/DUB in whichever order) would probably less attractive to the punters that could face two stops each way and might also be difficult for crew timings.

I’ve argued in pre-Covid times that a weekly or twice weekly DUB-BGI service might make sense for EI and I do think that when more normal times return there will also be good demand from MAN; so whilst the article quoted is probably focused more on boosting LIAT’s Chances of a re-launch, I don’t think a Caribbean route for EI, maybe alternating between DUB and MAN, is too far fetched...

Watching too many episodes of line of duty

basill

The island hopping was typically from the legacy airlines servicing the "colonies" eg: BA, KLM. There would be long standing freight, premium traffic and diplomatic ties making it profitable. Bucket and spade charter operators would fly point to point rotating back through Europe and alternating through the various islands.