Aer Lingus - News !

charliehotel

Chatted with a friend of mine who works in EI and got the following news [well-informed source]:

- EI relations with BA not well, LHR codeshare ex DUB, SNN and ORK at risk

-WIFI being considered for Shorthaul, delay due to deciding how/who to charge and how much and when to introduce it

-EY to purchase the FR stake, aiming to bring the same benefits as it has had with Air Berlin ie. cost synergies etc.

-EI not investing a penny into the EY codeshare agreement, due to the likelihood of the above occuring

-EI likely to pay a small portion of the pension deficit, but the Government will ultimately pick up the tab for most of it

- EDI, AMS (Yes, Amsterdam! :O), ARN and BRS among the best-performing connection-routes via DUB. Every second route search ex-ARN is to JFK, ARN is proving extremely popular for connections.

Locker10a

All sounds promising except the part about relations with BA ! It would be a bit of a set back to loose that relationship and all the passengers($$) that come with it!

Shamrock231

Great news!

amdublin

Hey I want to know the good news too!

Can someone post it in English please!

Shamrock231

amdublin wrote: »

Hey I want to know the good news too!

Can someone post it in English please!

Here you go:

Chatted with a friend of mine who works in EI and got the following news [well-informed source]:

- Aer Lingus relations with British Airways not well, Heathrow codeshare ex Dublin, Shannon and Cork at risk

-WIFI being considered for Shorthaul, delay due to deciding how/who to charge and how much and when to introduce it

-Ethihad to purchase the Ryanair stake, aiming to bring the same benefits as it has had with Air Berlin ie. cost synergies etc.

-Aer Lingus not investing a penny into the Ethihad codeshare agreement, due to the likelihood of the above occuring

-Aer Lingus likely to pay a small portion of the pension deficit, but the Government will ultimately pick up the tab for most of it

- Edinborough, Amsterdam (Yes, Amsterdam! :O), Stockholm and Brussels among the best-performing connection-routes via Dublin. Every second route search ex-Stockholm is to JFK, Stockholm is proving extremely popular for connections.

irishbloke77

Are Aer lingus pulling the SNN-LHR route from April, no sign of it for sale yet all other LHR routes for sale

highlydebased

irishbloke77 wrote: »

Are Aer lingus pulling the SNN-LHR route from April, no sign of it for sale yet all other LHR routes for sale

No.

I suspect the reason for lack of sale from then on is due to a possibility of new summer mainline EI flights from SNN (even though a summer schedule starts in March)

omega man

Why would the government pick up the tab for the pension deficit??? That's total bs. The rest is plausible.

Fitz123

A rather large portion of the pension deficit is likely to be met by eliminating uncoordinated pensions from staff that left on redundancy schemes (Uncoordinated pensions don't reduce when the pensioner receives the old age pension and are therefore more expensive)

Stinicker

I wonder would a souring of relations with BA have anything to do with BA now effectively competing with EI ex DUB having taken over BMI this year. I wonder could we see BA expand into Cork or Shannon also?

Lorgach

Good news alright

Tefral

BA charge too much compared to Aerlingus though. I fly with Aerlingus twice a week to Dublin and on the odd occasion to Shannon from LHR.

The average price I pay for an EI flight is 80-90 pounds, the BA ones are always 150 pounds return

kub

Stinicker wrote: »

I wonder would a souring of relations with BA have anything to do with BA now effectively competing with EI ex DUB having taken over BMI this year. I wonder could we see BA expand into Cork or Shannon also?

The return of Speedbird839, I thought it would never happen. I remember the final BA839 flight out of Cork to Heathrow, I listened to the ATC on my AOR1000 scanner, the pilot saying a final goodbye to Cork ATC on handover to SNN.

charliehotel

omega man wrote: »

Why would the government pick up the tab for the pension deficit??? That's total bs. The rest is plausible.

Something related to the DAA being state-owned and EI being formerly state-owned. His words were that, I quote, ''Aer Lingus will certainly have to dig into their own pockets, but the Government will eventually bear most of the cost''.

He said that the issue has been dragged out for so long because EI management are playing hardball with the government, they want to protect their cash reserves.

coylemj

charliehotel wrote: »

Something related to the DAA being state-owned and EI being formerly state-owned. His words were that, I quote, ''Aer Lingus will certainly have to dig into their own pockets, but the Government will eventually bear most of the cost''.

He said that the issue has been dragged out for so long because EI management are playing hardball with the government, they want to protect their cash reserves.

I can't see the Government coughing up a cent for the fund. If they did it would effectively mean that every semi-state fund would have to be guaranteed and money set aside every year to make them fully funded according to the funding requirements of the day and that is not going to happen.

pclive

Any word on an upgrade of the business class cabin?

basill

EI relations with BA not well, LHR codeshare ex DUB, SNN and ORK at risk

Have been hearing the same at work. Problem for Willy is he is getting shafted from all sides:-

- Iberia not going well and is a bit of a basket case
- Massive pax taxes compared to most other countries
- Qantas jumping into bed with EK
- Emergence of ME carriers with lower cost bases who have made the world a much smaller place with just 1 stop to most destinations.
- Trfr pax realising that they want to avoid LHR at all costs and hence going from the regions with any carrier but BA

Willy will be seeing the effects of this through the DUB-LHR trfr loads as people have been voting with their feet and going with EK and EY direct from DUB to the rest of the world avoiding LHR and all the security woes. Clearly he isn't sitting back though as can be seen with him being back into DUB. Its also interesting to see how his mood has changed over the past year and how he is now to a small degree "entertaining" MOL whereas before they couldn't stand each other. Obviously to get hold of the slots at LHR.

L1011

charliehotel wrote: »

- EDI, AMS (Yes, Amsterdam! :O), ARN and BRS among the best-performing connection-routes via DUB. Every second route search ex-ARN is to JFK, ARN is proving extremely popular for connections.

AMS doesn't surprise me - even before EI heavily promoted transferring I knew of people who found it cheaper to get to New York on EI from AMS via DUB than any other carrier.

Zonda999

I would be worried about the ending of the BA-EI codeshare agreement tbh.More so from a Shannon and Cork point of view than Dublin. If this were to end, it would be imperative for EI to have another codeshare agreement with another airline serving LHR surely, with the obvious being Virgin, although they have nowhere the coverage of North and South America that BA do., which at this point i would imagine would be the ultimate destination of many of the EI-BA codeshare passengers..

Ultimately, I think EI should rejoin Oneworld which may not be beyond the bounds of possibility seeing as EY already has a ~30% stake in Air Berlin who have just recently joined Oneworld. Who knows.. This, combined with the EY partnership would give EI codeshare's to pretty much all over the globe, and not disrupt the current model too much at all..

Preset No.3

pclive wrote: »

Any word on an upgrade of the business class cabin?

Whats wrong with business class?

keroseneboy

Preset No.3 wrote: »

Whats wrong with business class?

Recaro seats to narrow(my corpulent behind is too abundant)....

Joke aside, i travelled in 1c on the more modern A330 EI business class on a 2h sector and found the accomodation tight although I weighed 90kg/1m75 at the time.

pclive

Noting is wrong with it Preset No.3 just think the seating needs to be upgraded if they intend to have closer links with Etihad and possibly operate a number of weekly flights to Abu Dhabi.

Bearcat

Preset No.3 wrote: »

Whats wrong with business class?

It's tired says me.....needs a revamp.

Derek Zoolander

Preset No.3 wrote: »

Whats wrong with business class?

Seats are very confortable for watching movies, working...awful for sleeping. TV's are too far away from seat so viewing is awkard unless cabin is dark. Also recently EI have decided to stop the inflight entertainment with 30/40 minutes to go on transatlatic routes, which is extremely annoying.

Continental/united's flatbed seats in the 757 show what can be done with a limited width - really confortable seat for work/sleep, screen closer and much more visible for movies (also ice cream sundaes made to order....)

flanzer

On the EY purchase - I was out with a buddy of mine, who's a captain in Aer Lingus, the other week and he confirmed that also.

He said that the theory was that American's would find it uneasy flying on a middle eastern carrier, or in his words, 'planes with a squiggly writing on it's livery', and that will mean that a lot of the EY aircraft will be re-branded to the green shamrock, and a more extensive route network will open up to North America, mainly from Abu Dhabi

It also ties in with the intention of US CBP to open a pre clearance base in Abu Dhabi.

If all that happens it bodes well for the future of Aer Lingus and Etihad IMO

Bearcat

flanzer wrote: »

On the EY purchase - I was out with a buddy of mine, who's a captain in Aer Lingus, the other week and he confirmed that also.
IMO

He or she must be sole holder of that info. I have a ton of pals skippers there and not one has mentioned this.

David086

I thought the EU doesn't allow an outsider buy a majority stake in an airline?

flanzer

Bearcat wrote: »

He or she must be sole holder of that info. I have a ton of pals skippers there and not one has mentioned this.

Maybe so

Bearcat

Let's see what happens.....

Business class.....wifi being installed this winter.....free to premiere and a fee to coach class. Think this will attract a lot of folk.

BuffyBot

David086 wrote: »

I thought the EU doesn't allow an outsider buy a majority stake in an airline?

They don't. Can't see EI flying to the US on behalf of Etihad happening at all.

charliehotel

Apparently a new Winter menu is to be on offer from December 1st. Anybody have any info on this?...if not we'll have to wait until the morning :P

Tenger

charliehotel wrote: »

Apparently a new Winter menu is to be on offer from December 1st. Anybody have any info on this?...if not we'll have to wait until the morning :P

Am sure it will be similar to the current offering. About 3-4 items removed/added.

L1011

I want them to bring the meatballs back

Rocky Bay

I would appreciate a vegatarian meal that was......edible!!!

charliehotel

Tenger wrote: »

Am sure it will be similar to the current offering. About 3-4 items removed/added.

It appears to be something far more substantial than this - good news


http://www.aerlingus.com/inflight-experience/

munchkin_utd

charliehotel wrote: »

It appears to be something far more substantial than this - good news


http://www.aerlingus.com/inflight-experience/

and you can now pre order irish breakfasts in advance for daytime flights! If I was flying at christmas I'd definitely be doing this as its nice to have the option of getting something reasonably substantial on board.

without preorder they now have slices of margerita pizza for €3.50 which are damn tasty and pretty good value for money.

Hot drinks are down as €2.60 on the menu online but I am positive I paid €2.50 on Sunday which is still plenty for a teabag and hot water without burdoning teh staff with needing to carry kilos of 20c coins for change back from 2.60.

bikeman1

munchkin_utd wrote: »

and you can now pre order irish breakfasts in advance for daytime flights! If I was flying at christmas I'd definitely be doing this as its nice to have the option of getting something reasonably substantial on board.

without preorder they now have slices of margerita pizza for €3.50 which are damn tasty and pretty good value for money.

Hot drinks are down as €2.60 on the menu online but I am positive I paid €2.50 on Sunday which is still plenty for a teabag and hot water without burdoning teh staff with needing to carry kilos of 20c coins for change back from 2.60.

Yeah I paid €2.50 on Sunday evening when flying with EI. I like their new menu and prices, reasonably good value and a nice selection available.

Strangely the price of water was cheaper on board than at Hamburg airport!

smurfjed

Booked my Xmas seats from LHR on BA, they were slightly more expensive than EI, but their excess baggage / additional bag charges are much cheaper than EI, so I can stock up on all my favourite food stuff on the way back without getting ripped off.

Plus the drinks are free :)

smurfjed

Peregrine

Great news EI will be rolling out WiFi to short haul flights from mid 2013

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1212/breaking26.html

Long haul is supposed to get WiFi around New Year

Stimpyone

Nimrod 7 wrote: »

Great news EI will be rolling out WiFi to short haul flights from mid 2013

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1212/breaking26.html

Long haul is supposed to get WiFi around New Year

Flew to Chicago last Saturday with EI and am almost sure I saw a WiFi hump on top of the 330.

faceman

If the wifi pricing on Emirates is anything to go by, expect to pay around €5 per 4mb!

A320

Stimpyone wrote: »

Flew to Chicago last Saturday with EI and am almost sure I saw a WiFi hump on top of the 330.

The Hump was probably A SATCOM Antenna

Strumms

All the trains and ferries seem to be offering free wifi these days only natural that the airlines would get in on the act surprised it took this long I wonder how far the likes of FR will be in terms of offering wifi now. I am willing to bet before long that maybe once the installation is paid for that at some point there will be some airline offering free wifi, hopefully.

smurfjed

I am willing to bet before long that maybe once the installation is paid for that at some point there will be some airline offering free wifi,

I doubt it as the transmission costs still exist.

smurfjed

basill

A ferry and a modern jet aircraft as a comparison for free wifi.....

cson

Huge opportunities for ancillary revenue for operators there. I'd certainly pay circa €10 for it for a DUB-LHR type journey and personally I'd be very price conscious.

Strumms

basill wrote: »

A ferry and a modern jet aircraft as a comparison for free wifi.....

Is that a statement, a question, or..... ?

To clarify...

If you are travelling for business time is money so what different carriers can provide as regards wifi Internet connections and the cost will influence consumer choices. This is no different to say trains or ferries. When I had the choice I choose Stena as they had free wifi ahead of Irish Ferries who had some mad charge like 8 quid an hour. When I worked in the UK id plan my travel around direct Virgin trains with Wifi ahead of other companies without. It depends how you value that particular aspect of the service..

I am no expert as regards the associated costs for the airlines running this technology after instillation costs, maybe those more clued up can advise us but also for those travelling for leisure.. I am sure DUB - JFK could be a more pleasant journey for somone with wifi access over 7 hours. Competition may drive prices down to say zero if costs allow, I have no clue how it will work but its going to be interesting as to how the competition react to each other in terms of price and value and service etc....

Tenger

Strumms wrote: »

......I am no expert as regards the associated costs for the airlines running this technology after instillation costs, maybe those more clued up can advise us but also for those travelling for leisure.. I am sure DUB - JFK could be a more pleasant journey for somone with wifi access over 7 hours. Competition may drive prices down to say zero if costs allow, I have no clue how it will work but its going to be interesting as to how the competition react to each other in terms of price and value and service etc....

I can see the take up being a lot more on T/A flights for business travelers. It remains to be seen whether the EI shorthaul service will offer text messaging or just internet connection. The published info shows a different provider for the A320 installation than the Panasonic system on the A330.

I can see airlines charging at the beginning and in about 2-3 years free Wi-Fi onboard will become a service differentiation.

Bummer1234

Im flying from JFK to DUB on the 8th of january...Whats the odds of having the wifi service?

A319er

chances are 2 planes in 7 as two installations completed in Bordeaux,I can see customers especially Premier customers seeking info on which a/c has wifi and EI will not delay instalaltion now that its in the public forums. Amazing the interest, me,I prefer not to be tracked by google all the time....
can you imagine some of the ads that will pop up mid atlantic...

Space flights for sale, new space suits, lunar sun glasses, anti gravity medications ... agold mine for the airline ..

BUT

only free to Business passengers
a cost to be determined to us others

Some issues about how many persons can be logged onto system at once..

still come the summer all 7 willbe completed.

One day WiFi will of course be free to us all on flights but the system aint cheap and very few suppliers have been certified.:)

Tenger

Bummer1234 wrote: »

Im flying from JFK to DUB on the 8th of january...Whats the odds of having the wifi service?

Well EI have stated Wi-Fi from March 2013....so i would guess while some A330 will have it installed in January, the actual in service and online date will be once they all have in. No mention of launching it on a particular route yet. No harm asking as you board the aircraft though