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

Ah coincidentally enough there was also talk of this on the Dublin Movements FB group yesterday.

I think whatever BA go with to replace their GE 772's could be what EI also ends up with as well. Which is likely either the A350-900 or the 787-10 IGW. People keep saying that IAG are only ordering 787s these days when in fact only BA are.

Wouldn't go as far as to say the exact same aircraft but yeah certain ones tend to stay on certain routes but still move around at times though. Crew rest and MTOW would be a factor.

With the exception of the last four -300s (242t) builds all the others have a 233t MTOW so you won't see them on west coast runs. They'd probably make it but with less weight on board though. Even then they've no crew rest.

GEY has the range but no crew rest so you won't see that in LAX or SFO.

Fairly sure FNG and FNH are 242T HGW but are registered to 233T without crew rest so can be upgraded

What are the frames with 317 seats ? The newest ones ?

The 4 at 242T HGW GAJ, GCF, EIN, EIM with crew rest are 313 seats, the difference is 4 missing seats in the centre row at L3/R3 doors where the stairs are to the crew rest, so this has no impact on exit rows, bulkheads etc.

Both -200 are different

And the ex QR birds are odd ball. This might get worse as the talk is EIK/EIM will get a 'new' cabin in Q1 2024 and this will be a different J seat

Do you know what the new J seat will be?

The -9 if they don't intend on adding premium economy or the -10 if they do is my prediction. Be surprised to see a mix.

The -9 is slowly killing off the -8. Emirates are surprisingly one of the few who actually see something in it these days as they ordered 20 recently.

The -10 with a similar layout to KLM would suit EI down to the ground and should still allow them to operate west coast ops. However am unsure how weight restricted they are for KLM on longer ops.

It's actually more fuel efficient than the a350 on east coast routes (according to Leeham News), comparable on west coast, slightly less fuel efficient than the 787, but more roomie and comfortable at 2:4:2 in economy. The main benefit is a super-easy meld into the current EI fleet from pilots, crew, cargo, handling, and importantly line maintenance (of everything but the new engines). If it were me... It'd be the neo... Maybe even on 10yr leases via the large lessors... And come back to the a350 when it's been Neo'd with rolls ultra fan tech and further improved as per airbus' normal continual improvements of cabins and components.

Bringing in larger aircraft is great if you can fill them 'all year'. A near full a330 is going to be more cost effective than a 70/80% full a350... And you,'ve got to think about off-season load factors.

Another benefit is it's got the legs to fly full anywhere EI flies... One aircraft can do it all and do it well. I think EI may just take advantage of cheap leases of older a330s though... Seems to work for them.

I'd be surprised if passenger experience was a factor under consideration in the decision. The ironing boards on the newest aircraft in the short haul fleet have made corporate policy on that front very clear.

Demand is weakest at this time of the year, up until the week before Paddy's Day. Aer Lingus has a very punishing schedule for the A330s during the summer with some of them working virtually non stop 7 days a week, with a Euro trip to Malaga or Faro thrown in too. This means they have limited time to get the heavy maintenance done, which is what they will do now.

Come the Summer timetable at the end of March, they will need them all up and running at full tilt.

Remember two are due a major cabin upgrade (at last!).

When is this starting and will they have all the 330s repainted before summer? Will they even repaint the -200s?

The 2 ex Qatar are due refits to make them in line with the other EI 330s

Most likely scenario as well I think. Could be a while off any second hand Neos though. I think Delta can't get them into their fleet quick enough like the way they jumped at LATAMs A350s.

Regarding the A350, I learned a couple of weeks back that JAL ones like from yesterday are only flown on short domestic hops between 45 mins and 2.5hrs with de-rated XWB engines. Seems such a waste for a highly capable long haul bird but they obviously see the economics in it.

Almost sounds like the regional variant the EI were looking for years back.

Japan is the country that used 747 variants for domestic flights. I'm honestly a bit surprised that they don't have domestic A380s.