When did air travel become accessible to the mass public in Ireland?

SMASH THE UNIONS

Allow me to elaborate on the question. My first time on a plane was as a teenager in 2003. I went on a package holiday with the family to Mallorca (how working class!) and I was looking forward to the plane ride as much as the actual holiday. Fast forward to now: I’m in my mid-twenties and I’ve travelled all across Europe and been to Canada and the USA. Air travel is second nature to me now and I can recognise most major airports simply from their code. It’s so cheap to fly that there is no excuse not to take a weekend break in Barcelona or Prague.


However, I’m fascinated by the era when Aer Lingus had a monopoly on flights out of Ireland and a trip to London could cost up to £1000 (equal to a month’s salary back in the early 80s? I’m open to correction on any of my figures). This meant only the elite of Irish society had the option of flying – politicians, civil servants, captain of industry type businessmen. Air travel was perceived as luxurious and passengers would dress up in a suit before a flight and gourmet cuisine was served. This strikes me as funny because, for me, a plane is nothing more than a flying bus. Stop trying to make it glamorous or more than what it is. It’s not a five star restaurant – it’s an air hostess pushing a trolley down a narrow aisle serving up microwave slop. The seating is cramped and uncomfortable and airports are overcrowded, meaning waiting in queues for half an hour. Only then to get patted down but over-aggressive security and the contents of your bag examined. I now see air travel as a necessary ordeal.


I can’t remember a time before flights were booked online. When did this become the norm in Ireland and how was it done before then? To any seasoned travellers who have been flying since the 80s: are you bitter that the great unwashed now have access to air travel and you must share a plane with them? Are you upset that the glamour once associated with flying has been removed?

L1011

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

A

However, I’m fascinated by the era when Aer Lingus had a monopoly on flights out of Ireland and a trip to London could cost up to £1000 (equal to a month’s salary back in the early 80s?

No it didn't.

In the Aer Lingus/BA era (it wasn't a monopoly), ticket prices were set high - but they were never 1000 return.


The introduction of cheaper, lower-service night flights ("starflights") in the 1950s was when air travel became widely accessible.

Other airlines operated in to Ireland from the 1950s onwards also, and charters in the 1970s would have been the start of it being effectively available to all. There was also widespread use of shopping centre loyalty deals for reduced price flights until the 1990s, "yellow pack holidays" were very common.

Anyone flying since the 1980s will have been flying with the "great unwashed" also - you need to push back at least 40 years more, and stop believing that it was Ryanair that brought cheap flights to Ireland.

SMASH THE UNIONS

Thanks for that. Very informative. Like I said, that whole era was a bit before my time so I'm open to correction on anything I said in the OP. Just interested to hear stories.

DublinWriter

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

However, I’m fascinated by the era when Aer Lingus had a monopoly on flights out of Ireland and a trip to London could cost up to £1000

I don't think that you're too far wrong there. I was recently listening to some archive material from RTE Radio from 1985 and there was an Aer Lingus ad offering a 'special reduced' fare Dublin-Heathrow return for £199.

Bear in mind that that wouldn't have been probably 75% of the standard class fare and god only knows what they were charging business class.

I don't think it's true to say that air travel in general was expensive - Aer Lingus themselves were very expensive because their costs were out the window at the time - remember that they were a semi-state and effectively run like a branch of the Civil Service with all the attendant inefficiencies.

I think it all changed when Ryan Air stopped trying to act like Aer Lingus and adopted the US Southwest Airlines business model in the early 1990s.

You could also write a book on both Ryan Air and Aer Lingus' initial attempts at getting a web-site online. Aer Lingus spent telephone-number type money on a 'brochure' type site that didn't take bookings and O'Leary was so against using the Internet that his underlings had to finance the site from various expense accounts almost under his nose.

Also bear in mind that a lot of travel agencies set up in Ireland from the early 70's offering either charter flights for cheap Spanish holidays or religious pilgrimages to Lourdes. These provided the most accessible form of air travel for most Irish people in the 70's and 80's.

Dacian

A thing the Op is missing is that before air travel became accesssible they flight wasn't seen as a bus journey. In addition in the 1950's/1960's travelling to another country wasn't something that a regular Joe would contemplate. He doesn't acknowledge that his mindset is very different to that of his parents at the same age.

back in 'the heyday' of air travel seats were luxurious, food was top notch, served by trained chefs, champagne and cognac were normal. Security was no-where near what you know now, pilots were debonair and dashing, cabin crew were exotic creatures, airports were relaxed rather than crowded and panicked.

The opening up of air travel was allowed by the change in philosophy in what airlines provided. More seats mean better economies of scale, less food of lower quality meant lower airline costs. The race to the bottom started before Ryanair, they are merely the most vocal visible proponent of this mentality in the modern airline industry.

The B747 when designed was seen as an opportunity for airlines to have onboard bars and lounge areas, some did so. But other more flexible thinkers looked at the Jumba and though about how many seats they could get into it. The B747 era was the start of the opening of air travel to the wider public.

Oh and OP don't believe the fallacy about Ryanair following the SouthWest model. They copied single fleet ops, clever marketing, quick turnarounds and no connections. Thats it. (Of course this is enough to deliver E400M profit in 2011)
-SouthWest have the best paid Flight Attendants in the USA (22% salary increase over the last 10 years)
-ALL staff members are shareholders and get a profit share each and every year,
-SW Flight Crews deferred a pay rise 2 years ago as it "was not in the companies interests at that time".
-They also treat their customers with gratitude rather than contempt.


Congrats on your discreet display of your political viewpoint by the way

IngazZagni

The deregulation of the airline industry in Europe played a huge part in bringing costs down as well.

Delancey

I remember in the 1970's my Father flying to London for business and being charged circa £400 - not far off the average monthly industrial wage in those days.
At the time London-Dublin was the worlds most expensive route when priced by the mile - this was largely to subsidise the huge losses Aer Lingus were racking up on their North Atlantic services.

Love or loathe Ryanair , their role in opening up affordable and regular air travel to the masses should never be forgotten.

cocoshovel

There still are some airlines out there that make the flying experience top class, like Singapore Airlines. Its just that nearly everybody can afford to fly these days so its not as glamorous.
Im sure the economy seats weren't all that luxurious either back in the 50', 60's etc. Hell, I even recently travelled on an Air France long haul flight, and the salmon lunch I was served was top class. Sure it was given to me on a tray but it was still very well presented and very nicely cooked.

mikedragon32

cocoshovel wrote: »

There still are some airlines out there that make the flying experience top class, like Singapore Airlines. Its just that nearly everybody can afford to fly these days so its not as glamorous.
Im sure the economy seats weren't all that luxurious either back in the 50', 60's etc. Hell, I even recently travelled on an Air France long haul flight, and the salmon lunch I was served was top class. Sure it was given to me on a tray but it was still very well presented and very nicely cooked.

OP, see if you can grab hold of "The Secret Life of the Airport". It's a great series which chronicles the progress of the aviation industry from the glamour of the post war era to the present. Great viewing.

SMASH THE UNIONS

I'm enjoying reading these anecdotes of flying from Ireland in the 70s and 80s. I personally think it's pointless to serve luxurious food like salmon on a plane. Passengers are unable to enjoy it while they're being tossed around by turbelence and the person next to you has their elbows digging into you. A quick sandwich is more suitable and it would also keep costs down. I go on a plane to fly; if I want gourmet food, I'll go to a restaurant. The militant unions of a semi-state Aer Lingus undoubtedly were a major reason for the unreasonably high prices too.

mikedragon32 wrote: »

OP, see if you can grab hold of "The Secret Life of the Airport". It's a great series which chronicles the progress of the aviation industry from the glamour of the post war era to the present. Great viewing.

I think I've heard of this series. Was it shown on BBC4 last year? I vaguely remember an episode about airports in the 1950s. Locals would turn up at the airport just to gawk at the exotic passengers stepping out of arrivals. Black people in African dress, Arabs wearing headscarves, Asians and rich Americans - We laugh now but these were all rare sights back in 50s. I must check out the full series.

Does anybody have any info to share regarding when booking flights online became the norm? Personally my family only got dial-up internet circa the year 2000, as did many of my friends. I don't think the internet was fully established in the family home at this stage - it was still the preserve of businesses and universirties.

LeakRate

A quick sandwich is more suitable and it would also keep costs down. I go on a plane to fly; if I want gourmet food, I'll go to a restaurant

Try a 12hr+ flight and see how far a sambo will get ye;)

aliveandkicking

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

Does anybody have any info to share regarding when booking flights online became the norm? Personally my family only got dial-up internet circa the year 2000, as did many of my friends. I don't think the internet was fully established in the family home at this stage - it was still the preserve of businesses and universirties.

Online booking of flights really took off in 2002/3. I remember booking my grandparents a weekend away in Paris I think it was and they were hugely suspicious and untrusting of the whole thing

cml387

In the early eighties I remember both BA and AL offered the same fares.

It was £150 return DUB LHR.

If you stayed a Saturday night (known as PEX or pre-paid excursion) it came down to £100.

Not exactly cheap, but not an arm and a leg either.

Delancey

cml387 wrote: »

In the early eighties I remember both BA and AL offered the same fares.

It was £150 return DUB LHR.

If you stayed a Saturday night (known as PEX or pre-paid excursion) it came down to £100.

Not exactly cheap, but not an arm and a leg either.

Yeah , but book a business class ticket for same day return and they really put the boot in - outrageous fares.

Another thing I recall about the ' old days ' is the high status enjoyed by Cabin Crew then , they were called Air Hostesses and it was the dream job of so many girls . It was perceived as glamorous and exciting. How times have changed ......
On that ' tack ' its my personal opinion that the status similarly enjoyed by pilots is going in exactly the same direction :rolleyes:

A Dub in Glasgo

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

I went on a package holiday with the family to Mallorca (how working class!)

WTF is that supposed to mean?

are you bitter that the great unwashed now have access to air travel and you must share a plane with them?

Have you got some kind of chip on your shoulder?

SMASH THE UNIONS

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

I went on a package holiday with the family to Mallorca (how working class!)

WTF is that supposed to mean?

I'm of a working class background (the real working class. Not the dole leech class that has hi-jacked the term) and my first holiday was to a destination were similar families went as it was affordable. What do you not understand?

Have you got some kind of chip on your shoulder?

This has been a good-natured and informative thread so far. Go post your Shinner soapboxing about the "wuuurkking claaass" in a politics thread and stop trying to start an argument where there is none.

Zhane

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

I'm of a working class background (the real working class. Not the dole leech class that has hi-jacked the term) and my first holiday was to a destination were similar families went as it was affordable. What do you not understand?



This has been a good-natured and informative thread so far. Go post your Shinner soapboxing about the "wuuurkking claaass" in a politics thread and stop trying to start an argument where there is none.

I think its the tone that your post comes across as that got him riled up.

green123

cml387 wrote: »

If you stayed a Saturday night (known as PEX or pre-paid excursion) it came down to £100.

.

i remember this saturday night thing.

can somebody explain why ?
what difference did it make to the airlines whether you stayed a saturday night or not ?

coylemj

green123 wrote: »

i remember this saturday night thing.

can somebody explain why ?
what difference did it make to the airlines whether you stayed a saturday night or not ?

Making you stay away on Saturday night meant that you would probably come back on Sunday when there would be no business people on board, this allowed them to increase seat occupancy on off-peak flights.

Tenger

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

I'm enjoying reading these anecdotes of flying from Ireland in the 70s and 80s. I personally think it's pointless to serve luxurious food like salmon on a plane. Passengers are unable to enjoy it while they're being tossed around by turbelence and the person next to you has their elbows digging into you. A quick sandwich is more suitable and it would also keep costs down. I go on a plane to fly......

I think you are missing the point of what several posters have mentioned......30 years ago people didn't just 'go on a plane to fly', the flight itself was an experience. Hence you enjoyed the novelty of eating a smoked salmon dish on the plane. In those days you didn't have someone elbow digging into you.

The huge growth in air travel in the last 20 years has killed off the novelty factor of aviation. You appear to be judging the past by your personal standards, which is not fair to the situation in the 60's/70's. My first flight was as a 17 year old in the mid 80's, I was still awed by the experience at the time.

Lets take the example of the modern Orient Express, sure you could just take a flight, but with the Orient Express the journey IS the experience. now imagine how some people viewed air travel in the 1960's....



(And you seem to have swallowed a lot of propaganda without any thought to query it.......a pleasant aviation thread discussion can easily turn into a airline bashing thread)

ozmo

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

I can’t remember a time before flights were booked online. When did this become the norm in Ireland and how was it done before then?

No phones in houses either - so to book a flight you had to bus it to town and book in some office - weeks in advance.

When you arrived at airport- there was of course practically no security - all much friendlier.
I remember seeing the check-in desk with a very large sticker of the layout of the whole aeroplane - must have been almost a meter long. Each seat in the plane was a removable sticker with a seat number on it. You pointed to the seat you wanted and she would peal off and stick your seat to your new boarding card -
nice computer free way of allocating seats.

My first flight was a short Dublin to Shannon AerLingus- cost around 40 pounds I think - one way - (sometime in late 70's/early 80's) - school trip just to fly in a plane too expensive to fly both ways so everyone was to get a train back.

Delta Kilo

What you should research for this is the deregulation of the aviation industry and cabotage.

It all started back in the 30s I think, (im a little sketchy on the dates) but major countries got together and agreed "freedoms of the air". Things like having the right to overfly another country, stop for emergencies, and point A to B travel only were initially agreed upon. Over the years new freedoms were added, for instance the right to travel from A to B to C, for instance DUB-LHR-CDG, but the irish aircraft wasnt allowed pick up passengers in London on its way to Paris!

In short, it was all a very big political system. The airlines in the early days were extensions of the government of the country. So no flight could be created without governments in both countries agreeing. There was a lot of collusion in the marketplace and it was essentially a big cartel, hence the inflated prices of airline seats.

It wasnt until much later, the 90s I believe, that cabotage was introduced in Europe. This allowed an airline in one country, to operate flights between 2 other countries. For instance Ryanair operating flights between France and Italy. This was a big no no back in the day, and previously would have only been operated by either Air France or Alitalia. This is what REALLY allowed Ryanair to expand and grow into the beast it is today, forget southwest models, forget gimmicks and marketing, this would not have happened if cabotage didnt exist.

The internet of course helped immensely, allowing airlines like Ryanair to cut costs massively and open up the skies to everyone! Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for the people who work in the industry, there are very mixed opinions!

Tenger

ozmo wrote: »

...My first flight was a short Dublin to Shannon AerLingus- cost around 40 pounds I think - one way - (sometime in late 70's/early 80's) - school trip just to fly in a plane too expensive to fly both ways so everyone was to get a train back.

I remember this too, (never got a go though) EI used to offer cheap deals from DUB-SNN to allow people to experience flight. They were forced at that time to operate DUB-SNN-USA, this deal got them a bit more revenue on the unprofitable 2 min sector, and gave some people the travel bug.

A Dub in Glasgo

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

I'm of a working class background (the real working class. Not the dole leech class that has hi-jacked the term) and my first holiday was to a destination were similar families went as it was affordable. What do you not understand?



This has been a good-natured and informative thread so far. Go post your Shinner soapboxing about the "wuuurkking claaass" in a politics thread and stop trying to start an argument where there is none.

Without bringing the topic any more off topic, you actually do have a chip on your shoulder :pac:

RadioRetro

Ah, bring back the 60s and 70s intercontinental air travel! Luxury to a kid like me as we flew to and from Ireland once a year for our annual end of tour R&R.

roundymac

I went to Greece in 1977, first trip abroad, flights only, booked it through Club travel from Dublin. The flt was Gatwick-Athens for stg£69. The Cork-Heathrow flt was £79, the Irish pound was on a parity with sterling. I also remember being quoted £250 for a Cork-Heathrow rtn in the early eighties. I took a Slatterys coach instead. I also remember a lady complaining to the Gay Byrne show that she could'nt get £69 special offer tickets that were being advertised at the time by Aer Lingus, she said she heard that there was only a couple of seats available each day at that price. Gay of course would have have none of it, how dare she say such things of his beloved Aer Lingus, rang them up only to find out that there was only 4 seats at that price once a day. The route btw was Dub-Heathrow.

cml387

One of the compensations of those days was that you could fly on a BAC 1-11, an engineering marvel forged out of solid iron.

Duggys Housemate

Tenger wrote: »

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

I'm enjoying reading these anecdotes of flying from Ireland in the 70s and 80s. I personally think it's pointless to serve luxurious food like salmon on a plane. Passengers are unable to enjoy it while they're being tossed around by turbelence and the person next to you has their elbows digging into you. A quick sandwich is more suitable and it would also keep costs down. I go on a plane to fly......

I think you are missing the point of what several posters have mentioned......30 years ago people didn't just 'go on a plane to fly', the flight itself was an experience. Hence you enjoyed the novelty of eating a smoked salmon dish on the plane. In those days you ....

This is to mess up the correlation. If something is expensive people are going to savour it more and expect more. It wasn't that they were paying for the experience but the thing was so expensive they expected an experience on route.

If it was all about the flying airlines would have flown from Dublin to Dublin via a tour of Ireland.

A320

cml387 wrote: »

an engineering marvel forged out of solid iron.

That reminds me of the first few weeks of FAS a few years ago :) That was a mental challenge to see who would cope with filing a block of steel to nothing!!!

gihj

MYOB wrote: »

and stop believing that it was Ryanair that brought cheap flights to Ireland.

Despite the OP's questionable opinions i fail to see where he says anything about Ryanair bringing cheap flights to Ireland.

Some folks attitude towards Ryanair just never caeses to amaze me.

eagerv

I remember flying to London around 1990. Staying for two nights including flight and Hotel, The Copthorn Tara which was owned by Aer Lingus at the time. Total package was less than the normal return fare. £199 if I remember correctly.

L1011

gihj wrote: »

Despite the OP's questionable opinions i fail to see where he says anything about Ryanair bringing cheap flights to Ireland.

Some folks attitude towards Ryanair just never caeses to amaze me.

I'm basing it on my experience of the average Irish flyer. There is a ridiculous perception that "ah sure, if it wasn't for Ryanair we'd be paying thousands". When that's completely untrue - Ryanair were full service when they started and far too dear for the rustbuckets (ROMBACs, anyone?) they were flying and EU deregulation would have brought us cheap flights regardless.

Su Campu

My first flight was DUB-SNN on "da Jumbo". We had only taken off and the stewardess came on the PA asking for me to make myself known to her. Lo and behold she brought me for a cockpit visit! A friend knew a Captain and arranged the visit.

On the return later that day (on a 737), the stewardess saw my boarding pass on boarding and said "Oh, you have an appointment with the Captain after we take off!" Another trip to the cockpit!

As a 15 year old boy, this was some introduction to flying! (Not to mention the fact that that return flight was full of French girls on a school trip! )

gihj

MYOB wrote: »

I'm basing it on my experience of the average Irish flyer. There is a ridiculous perception that "ah sure, if it wasn't for Ryanair we'd be paying thousands". When that's completely untrue - Ryanair were full service when they started and far too dear for the rustbuckets (ROMBACs, anyone?) they were flying and EU deregulation would have brought us cheap flights regardless.

Ah yeah,sure you are.:rolleyes:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056676065

Just like you did in this thread.

L1011

gihj wrote: »

Ah yeah,sure you are.:rolleyes:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056676065

Just like you did in this thread.

If you can't actually challenge my points, why do you keep posting about them?

gihj

MYOB wrote: »

If you can't actually challenge my points, why do you keep posting about them?

Am i did.
And then you said they were based on your experience of the average Irish flyer.

This is not true though as your previous posts show.
You have an issue with Ryanair that you design your points around.

You displayed that in bringing Ryanair into the discussion in your first post and for no obvious reason bar your dislike for the Airline.

Perhaps the OP was right after all.:D

newcavanman

Well the truth is, that it was the advent of competition through Ryanair in 85/86 that brought cheap air fares . It was the european deregulation in 93 along with Ryanairs rebirth as a no frills carrier that brought really low fares . I rememeber going to London ion the early 1980s, plane spotting, and having to go by boat and train, as i couldnt begin to afford flying . Evin in 1991 and 93 when going to RIAT at fairford, it was £90 to fly to London, and £160 to fly to Bristol. In fact, one night flying home thru LHR we flew straight west and almost passed over Bristol airport, it was a crazy situation .
Say what you like about RYR, but the truth is, because of them we can all go to places we never would have done. Myself and the missus went to Budapest in march, out friday night, back sunday night, €42 return each including all charges .

DublinWriter

ozmo wrote: »

My first flight was a short Dublin to Shannon AerLingus- cost around 40 pounds I think - one way - (sometime in late 70's/early 80's) - school trip just to fly in a plane too expensive to fly both ways so everyone was to get a train back.

Me too, circa 1982. It would have been on a Jumbo Jet as it would have been flying to the states and would have had to stop at Shannon because of the crazy stop-over rule.

There's a popular folk-myth about a kid who remained on-board during one of these flights and ended up in NYC. Anyone?

A Dub in Glasgo

DublinWriter wrote: »

There's a popular folk-myth about a kid who remained on-board during one of these flights and ended up in NYC. Anyone?

Not quite the same but this always made me smile

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056007280

Wibbs

Me being more aged than many around here... My first trip on a plane was to Spain in the mid 70's. My dad had lived all over the world before he married and the various companies he worked for had flown him all over said world, plus he had hopped on various aircraft in WW2, so he was well used to flying by that stage*. My mum(much younger than my dad) had flown to a couple of places in Europe in the 60's. Given how many Irish people has emigrated and lived all over the world, I reckon international travel including airplanes wasn't that odd to many. My folks had organised the holiday themselves, but the plane was full of people who had gone on the package holidays that were beginning to become popular and affordable at least as a once a year thing. I also recall that the price diff between the two wasn't that big, because my parents were discussing prices with other people who had gone the package route and others who had gone it alone.

Though my dads family had money behind them in the past that was long gone, we certainly weren't rich and neither were the other folks on the plane that I can recall. There were quite a number of folks flying back then. Like it was noted earlier by DublinWriter Lourdes on it's own or more commonly Lourdes followed by a quick jaunt over the Pyrenees** to Spain for the second week was an entry to international travel for lots of Irish people in the 70's. There were a fair few families laden down with plastic bottle of Lourdes holy water in one arm, plastic Spanish donkeys in the other, with the biggest bag reserved for duty free fags and drink.

I do clearly remember the sense of excitement of everyone getting on the plane and flying. It contrasted with my dad's really laid back attitude about the whole thing so I noticed it. I remember him reassuring a couple of people beforehand in the departure lounge. So it was a new thing to many people at the time. As for the "luxury" bit, even as a kid I remember the food being awful . Again my dad commented that it used to be better and there was more space. Though compared to today there seemed to be more space on the plane. It was a lot more relaxed too. Cos I was mad about planes and flying and being a pilot(until my Mr Magoo eyesight put paid to that dream) my dad would put the talk on a pilot(who would often walk down the aisle during the flight) and I'd go up to the cockpit, even get to sit in one of the pilot's seats on a couple of occasions. I near wet myself with pleasure calling out the names of the various instruments when asked. I remember the pilots being really kind and informative with me. Ahh ye got me all nostalgic now.:o To this day going on a plane is still really exciting for me. Never lost that and I hope I never do. It's pretty amazing when you think about it even on a short hop to the UK.


TL;DR? In response to the OP I'd say the early/mid 70's


*he had some stories of wild and unusual flights. Near crashes and the like.

** I did that trip myself on two occasions. Once with the folks and the second time with a school trip. Both wild. The one with the folks was really wild. Major turbulence, that resulted in minor injuries and one woman with a broken arm. The fecking oxygen masks dropped an all. :eek: Being a kid I didn't freak. I'd need new underwear now.

L1011

gihj wrote: »

Am i did.
And then you said they were based on your experience of the average Irish flyer.

And it is

gihj wrote: »

This is not true though as your previous posts show.

You have absolutely no knowledge of my experiences and hence you have no ability to decide this.

gihj wrote: »

You have an issue with Ryanair that you design your points around.

You displayed that in bringing Ryanair into the discussion in your first post and for no obvious reason bar your dislike for the Airline.

I don't even use Ryanair, I don't have "an issue" with them. I have issues with the way the media and the public - but most majorly the media - misrepresent them constantly.

roundymac

cml387 wrote: »

One of the compensations of those days was that you could fly on a BAC 1-11, an engineering marvel forged out of solid iron.

Yes, it was a BA BAC111 that we flew to London with, then a DAN AIR B727 to Greece. There was another DAN AIR flight to Greece flying simultainously to our one, a Comet MK4. I thought as we went to the gate we were going to get that but unfortunetly no. It was my first time on a 727 as well as the 111 so I was'nt too disappointed.

rainbowtrout

ozmo wrote: »

No phones in houses either - so to book a flight you had to bus it to town and book in some office - weeks in advance.

When you arrived at airport- there was of course practically no security - all much friendlier.
I remember seeing the check-in desk with a very large sticker of the layout of the whole aeroplane - must have been almost a meter long. Each seat in the plane was a removable sticker with a seat number on it. You pointed to the seat you wanted and she would peal off and stick your seat to your new boarding card -
nice computer free way of allocating seats.

My first flight was a short Dublin to Shannon AerLingus- cost around 40 pounds I think - one way - (sometime in late 70's/early 80's) - school trip just to fly in a plane too expensive to fly both ways so everyone was to get a train back.

That's my first experience too. Shannon - Dublin around 1989/1990.

Actually I remember by aunt being home from England on holiday and she was flying back from Shannon and we went out to the airport with her. We were saying goodbye at the gate where the metal detector thing is and my dad asked the guy on duty if we could go up to departures to wave her off, and he let us. No way that would happen today.

I remember Quinnsworth/Tesco (don't know if the name had changed by then) doing flight deals in the late 90s. Collect x amount of tokens with your shopping every week and when your card was full you could redeem them against flights to certain destinations in Europe, and get the flights half price. My mother had gone to London once or twice with her friends using the tokens but had a load of them leftover and wasn't using them so she gave them to me. Myself and one of my friends in college used them to get return flights to Amsterdam. I remember at the time the flights were £199 return which was half price with the tokens. Money was worth an awful lot more back then even though this was around 2000-2001. We had to fill in the form, the destination we wanted and the dates we wanted to fly. Probably had to enclose a cheque for the balance, I don't remember now. Tickets were posted back from what I remember.

Didn't start booking flights online for another 2-3 years maybe. Ryanair might not have brought in cheap flights for the masses but certainly a lot of people in this country travelled to a lot of places around Europe they wouldn't have probably seen because flights were so cheap. I did a number of day trips to London on flights where I paid 1c for the trip etc, before Ryanair started charging for every little item. Going to London for a day out was working out cheaper than travelling to Dublin for a day out by train.

Davidth88

I met my wife in 1991 in London ( she is from Kerry , I am a Londoner ).

Even then , booking a flight was an ' thing '.

She used to go home twice a year only , once in the summer and Christmas , the Christmas one you had to book by Sept or the prices were silly.

You had to go to a Travel Agent ( in her case Tara Travel in Ealing , a little Irish enclave , Irish shop next door had the Irish local papers and Erin soup ). Flights to kerry involved a stopover in Dublin and and a transfer to an F27. She usually went to Cork however.

As a ' spotter ' i remember the early Ryanair 111 flights into Luton. I actually remember being in the terminal one time and wondering where the hell is Knock !!

kuro2k

cml387 wrote: »

In the early eighties I remember both BA and AL offered the same fares.

It was £150 return DUB LHR.

If you stayed a Saturday night (known as PEX or pre-paid excursion) it came down to £100.

Not exactly cheap, but not an arm and a leg either.

£150 return during the early 80's in today's money is about 800 EUR, thats expensive..... To put it into perspective the price pint would have been less than £1

I don't think too many people would have been able to afford to pay that kind of fare in 80's Ireland. Personally I don't think alot of people will every forgive Aerlingus for the prices they charged back then

Growler!!!

kuro2k wrote: »

I don't think too many people would have been able to afford to pay that kind of fare in 80's Ireland. Personally I don't think alot of people will every forgive Aerlingus for the prices they charged back then

You're right, they couldn't afford it! Thats why they travelled by boat to the UK.

As for personally forgiving EI - most people compare prices online and check times to travel. If the times and price suit, they'll buy based on that not with any deep seated hatred of an airline.

Joe 90

kuro2k wrote: »

£150 return during the early 80's in today's money is about 800 EUR, thats expensive..... To put it into perspective the price pint would have been less than £1

I don't think too many people would have been able to afford to pay that kind of fare in 80's Ireland. Personally I don't think alot of people will every forgive Aerlingus for the prices they charged back then

I paid 200 punts for a single from Shannon to Heathrow in 1986. That was just turn up, buy ticket and fly so i probably could not have found a more expensive way if I tried. Still robbery though.

Bebop

The 1922 peace treaty had an clause forbidding the new Irish Free state to have its own International Air service, it stipulated that any Irish airline must be jointly owned by the Irish and UK goverments and apart from flying to the UK no international flights were allowed,the original Aer Lingus Teoranta was 50/50 owned by the UK government, this caused a political row in 1949 when Aer Lingus bought 2 Super Constellation aircraft and started flights to New York, they re-branded ALT as Aer Lingus-Aerlinte Eireann and Irish International Airlines was born, the Goverment of the day backed down and cancelled the new route, the aircraft were sold and AL did not return to New York until 1958 when it aquired 2 Boeing 720's, not many people know that

squonk

I heard they sold the aircraft to BA, or one of the UK airlines that would become BA.... bebop?

My first time flying was back in 1981 or 2 when I was shipped off to Lourdes. We flew on an AL 737 then. My next memorable time was in 1997 again with AL and how things had changed! I remember in the 80's I was 7 and incredibly excited about the flight. I loved planes and still do so it was like all my birthdays had come at once. I remember one of the air hostesses coming through the cabin with a basket of sweets and we were told to take one each. The reason was to help people with their ears popping I'm sure. I remember the food being lovely too. OK, I was 7 and maybe was easilly pleased but there was certainly nothing wrong with it, and we were only flying to France. I think that's the only time I got dinner served on a short flight like that. I got shipped off to Lourdes again in 1987 but I don't have much recollection of that trip.

My first proper holiday after finishing college was in 1997 when myself and a mate headed off to Italy. We flew AL again and it had morphed into soemthing akin to the current AL at that point. I remember ringing up AL to book my tickets and I remember them arriving in the post for me, printed on carbon paper with several sheets with various different copies.

2001 really took the fun out of flying. Back in 81 I was dying to get up to the cockpit and my mother was mortified but I was brazen and asked one of the air hostesses. They let me up no bother. I completely loved the cockpit back then and have loved planes ever since. I've asked for cockpit visits ever since but 2001 knocked that on the head and it's really such a pity that a few idiots have ruined that experience for the kids of today, even the big kids!

Run_to_da_hills

ozmo wrote: »

My first flight was a short Dublin to Shannon AerLingus- cost around 40 pounds I think - one way - (sometime in late 70's/early 80's) - school trip just to fly in a plane too expensive to fly both ways so everyone was to get a train back.

That was quite a popular run with Dublin schools back then, filled up empty seats for EI on the Dublin to Shannon leg and also the same on off peak return for CIE. They never did that flight in the opposite direction.

coylemj

I remember flying to Heathrow in the 80s, almost everyone was flying business class but I think even the people in cattle class got a 'free' breakfast in those days.

Business class passengers got an Irish Times and free booze and in order to encourage passengers to tell their bosses they wanted to continue to fly business class, EI were fairly generous with the booze. Whatever you asked for, you were given two of, the result was that most people asked for champagne, even on the morning flight and were handed two snipes which they took away with them. They then got two more coming back which meant that along with the fags (200 each way) and hard liquor you bought in duty-free, you were pretty laden down with goodies coming home!

However the main advantage of flying business class was that you could show up early for the flight home, look at the departures board and depending on whether EI or BA were leaving next, you could present your EI ticket to either airline and they would give you a seat on the next flight.

Arriving back laden down with booze and fags wasn't a problem, the short term car park was right outside the terminal and the 'long-term' car park was where the coach park is nowadays!