Aer Lingus Fleet Discusion

b757

Best username ever wrote: »

I didn't realise EIN had 767's in the past, I knew about the tristar and the MD-11, I didn't know about the 767.

Yeah, they didn't have them for long though; only a year. It's a pity!

http://www.airfleets.net/flottecie/Aer%20Lingus-history-b767.htm

ANXIOUS

Has this been confirmed about the 737's? Or just speculation.

Best username ever

ANXIOUS wrote: »

Has this been confirmed about the 737's? Or just speculation.

757's I think you mean? There's a few posters that seem to be connected with the aviation industry here, that have pretty much confirmed the rumors around the web.

islanderre

767's were initially bought to operate to L.A direct from shannon but government would not do way with the shannon stopover to EI pulled that plan.

Aer Transit did operate DC-8s to L.A for a short period around that time too.

the 767's were leased out in the end.... one of they ended up with TWA I think.

That's how I remember it anyway!!!!!!

Tenger

Best username ever wrote: »

So just for the record, what replaced the 757 after it went out of production? I know the market only grew after they finished producing it. Seems ridiculous that Airbus don't have an aircraft that matches it and niether do Boeing since they stopped building it.

As stated above the B737-900ER was designed to fill some of the gap the B757 will leave. However the B757 is still longer ranged so aobut 10% of its capability is still not covered by the B739ER or the A321NEO.
But this 10% is not enough of an incentive for A or B to further tweak these designs. Tweaking the A321NEO for more range may impact its core performance. So both companies are plying it safe by not going for the last bit of B757 market. (Which can be covered by the B787-8 from the other end of the spectrum.)


In regard to the issue of PTV's.....I am in 2 minds. I am a fan of the "I'll take my own entertainment with me,thank you" style of travel. I usually have my kindle,iPod and laptop with me.(Sleep is also good!) On the other hand I think PTV's are a huge product differentiator in air travel.


Someone mentioned alternatives and competition......well what if a new routes was launched where the competition DO NOT have PTV's? While not great for that route it means the urgent need to upgrade product is not there (afterall accountants run airlines, not the marketing guys)
I don't think all of the US carriers have PTV's on their B757's (open to correction here) And I read comments regarding the low quality hard product on the Air Canada and Air Transat aircraft. (again open to correction)


Its not fun but cabin refits cost money, PTV seats cost money to buy, spares cost money, maintenance costs money, up to date content costs money, PTVS weight more so cost more fuel.

Cathay Pacific have already stated that they intent to have no PTV IFE systems in their aircraft in 10 years time. Down the line I expect aircraft will have servers onboard and the passengers can stram content onto their personal device.
Qantas in fact already do this on their B767 fleet, it wasn't worth it to refit the cabin. So each seat has an iPad (charged overnight) that can only connect to the Qantas network (and is lo-jacked for anti theft), pax watch content on their iPad,then leave in seat for the next flight. It an interim solution for this older sub-fleet, and a proof of concept trail at the same time.

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

Zonda999

Yeah, I reckon PTV's are on the way out alright, but not for a few years yet I wouldn't think

In time, it will hopefully allow for slightly slimmer seats, and more feet room

IRLConor

Plowman wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

By the time PTVs are replaced with iPads the rules requiring them to be in airplane mode will be gone and you could use the (IMO, much better) mapping options on the tablet.

Preset No.3

Tenger wrote: »

I don't think all of the US carriers have PTV's on their B757's (open to correction here

US Airways do not have AVOD on the 75's to PHL and CLT. In business you are give a 'tablet' plugged into the seat.

merisi

b757 wrote: »

Yeah, they didn't have them for long though; only a year. It's a pity!

I didn't realise they had two: I'd seen pictures of EI-CAL before but not EI-CAM.

donkey balls

I was talking to some people that work for EI and they told me that the 757 are going be coming soon,I joked that the ramp lads wont like hand balling in the freight&pax bags considering the 757 don't use ULD's.
Someone also mentioned that they could be here in time for the summer season and that EI will be doing all the ground handling /catering etc.

donvito99

I've heard October? For the winter season.

Jamie2k9

Whenever they do come it will be October/November before they entre passenger service.

bk

Single isle 757's, basic business class, no PTV's.

In many ways this is what I always imagined what Ryanair Altantic would look like. I wonder now that the Ryanair threat of buying Aer Lingus is largely over, are Aer Lingus pre-empting Ryanair going for plan B and launching such a T/A service of their own.

East Coast T/A is medium haul rather then long haul, I don't think people will mind too much if there is a significant saving.

The discussion about the future of PTV's and IFE's is interesting.

All iPads have 10+ hours of battery life and almost all Android models other then the odd Chinese rip off have 6+ hours, all fine for East Cost T/A.

I believe the future of IFE for most medium to long haul full service airlines will be:

1) No PTV's, bring your own iPad/Tablet/PC
2) Power (Standard AC and USB) at every seat of long haul routes, maybe on medium.
3) Wifi based IFE system that streams on demand movies, tv, music from a local server to peoples own iPad/Tablet/PC.

Note this increases leg room under the seat due to no IFE box their.
It also reduces weight in the plane due to no more under seat IFE's and PTV screens, also reduces maintenance costs.

In addition some airlines might offer:
4) Basic internet over the wifi (paid or free, depending on airline, class and routes).
5) Some airlines might rent iPads to passengers who don't have their own.

Low cost medium haul airlines, might not bother with any of this, expecting people to bring their own entertainment instead.

It really is the logical future of IFE.

IRLConor

bk wrote: »

3) Wifi based IFE system that streams on demand movies, tv, music from a local server to peoples own iPad/Tablet/PC.

As a side note, this is really, really hard to do. Even for web browsing loads, current WiFi technology breaks down pretty quickly when you have devices as densely packed as in an aircraft. Streaming video over WiFi in that environment will be extremely challenging to say the least.

bk

IRLConor wrote: »

As a side note, this is really, really hard to do. Even for web browsing loads, current WiFi technology breaks down pretty quickly when you have devices as densely packed as in an aircraft. Streaming video over WiFi in that environment will be extremely challenging to say the least.

Typically, most of the systems being sold have multiple wifi access points, usually one per 50 passengers and so far the trials have been successful.

Remember, these systems can often buffer the content as they go, so you don't need to be streaming live constantly, it can switch between passengers as needed.

Very interesting article on the subject here:

http://blog.apex.aero/content-2/industry-heavy-hitters-discuss-developments-wireless-portable-ife/

Some of the most interesting points:

We had five wireless access points (WAP) on the aircraft so we had a wireless access point for about every 50 passengers. The average total number of clients per flight was 118, which represented about 46% of the cabin. The average number of videos [streamed] per flight was 466. ...... And the maximum number of simultaneous clients was 187 so that meant that 74.7% of the users were engaged simultaneously at one time.

For interesting quote that applies to Ryanair, a possible Ryanair Atlantic and Aer Linugs narrowbody T/A aircraft:

One of the market segments we’ve identified [for wireless IFE] is what we call the low-cost airlines. Particularly as the low-cost [segment] starts to operate long-haul flights, they are not interested in carrying full-fledged embedded IFE. But they are looking for IFE and connectivity at the same time. Their [interest in] offering both at the same time is financially driven; they want to offer something but at the same time not offer it free-of-charge. So they want it to be part of a single solution. So this is how we came into this market. We’re also seeing another market segment, the narrowbody fleet, where the majority of aircraft are not equipped with embedded IFE. Those airlines have absolutely no plan to equip with embedded IFE.

Mary Kirby: Would you ever consider going back to Ryanair and offering wireless IFE since the carrier has got your connectivity kit on board 50 aircraft?

OnAir head of Latin America Mohssine Lahlou: Absolutely. If you can present the right business model…

So we are likely to see these sort of IFE systems on short the medium haul low cost airlines first, like Ryanair, where it is a pay per use model, with relatively low setup and maintenance costs.

In the US, most of the american airlines are using or planning to use such pay as you use, VOD wireless IFE systems on their internal routes.

In time it will likely expand from here into the more long distance, full service airlines, though they might just go with giving passengers pre-loaded tablets to use, at least until the technology is better proven.

Daidy2011

I didn't know that EI had A319's in their fleet?

Daidy2011

b757 wrote: »

I presume so, would probably allow for year round ops at SNN.. And it sure does!



--

Can't wait to see one!

Can't wait to see one either but I hope I never have to fly in it over the Atlantic - single aisle 3+3 for 6+ hours ikes!

james142

Daidy2011 wrote: »

Can't wait to see one either but I hope I never have to fly in it over the Atlantic - single aisle 3+3 for 6+ hours ikes!

By god thats actually sexy!

L1011

Daidy2011 wrote: »

I didn't know that EI had A319's in their fleet?

Have had for a year or so and more coming. Mostly used for belfast.

zone 1

Daidy2011 wrote: »

Can't wait to see one either but I hope I never have to fly in it over the Atlantic - single aisle 3+3 for 6+ hours ikes!

if it was cheap id set anywhere . i dont think there as bad as people are making them out to be.

Stinicker

Daidy2011 wrote: »

Can't wait to see one either but I hope I never have to fly in it over the Atlantic - single aisle 3+3 for 6+ hours ikes!

I flew one into Shannon a few years ago with Continental and I found no problem with it, the flight was 5.5hrs (flying east with the Jetstream), the plane went technical in Newark and we were grounded for 2.5hrs before take off and whilst there was no IFE or anything I took no notice of it and quickly fell asleep. They are ideal for these TATL nightflights.

I'd much rather the direct flight into Shannon than trekking through Dublin to get to the states. Especially if originating or finishing on the East coast, if transiting JFK for somewhere then it could be annoying but for me personally anything under 7hrs I consider a short flight and if given the choice I'd take a 757 for seven hours rather than a cramped Boeing 777-300 with 10-abreast seating like Emirates use from Dublin and it is not always a case of bigger is better.

Will the 757's be year round service or will they revert to the A330 for the summer and use the 757's from Cork or Dublin on bucket and spade routes to Spain etc. and move the 757's back to TATL ops for the quieter winter period?

Zonda999

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-11/jetblue-chief-seeks-broader-deeper-international-airline-links.html

JetBlue CEO wrote:

“We’d love to see something non-stop to Cork” in Ireland

Thought this was interesting enough to read in the middle of the article. Somehow I really doubt the JetBlue CEO would know much about Cork's lack of T/A services other than if the was told by EI that they are at least considering it.

Its been done to death on forums, the arguments for and against an airline operating T/A services from Cork. Surely the above means though that the airlines are looking at Cork at least.. Who knows, even if EI don't start something, some one like AA could start a service, seeing as they don;t already operate from SNN. Or UA still possible. They operate from Edinburgh and Glasgow currently, despite the proximity. Its fair to say, they seem to do well on operating they 757's to many Western European city's so you never know

merisi

I've been putting an Aer Lingus 757 livery together in X-Plane. It looks quite smart.

zone 1

nice job

Zonda999

merisi wrote: »

I've been putting an Aer Lingus 757 livery together in X-Plane. It looks quite smart.

Great work!

You should send that to EI. They could easily use that render when they do a press release on the 757 acquisition. Speaking of, a post on the Irish thread on a.net says that in the latest Airliners World, they claim EI will be getting three ex-Finnair 752's from air Contractors

munchkin_utd

Great work!

You should send that to EI. They could easily use that render when they do a press release on the 757 acquisition. Speaking of, a post on the Irish thread on a.net says that in the latest Airliners World, they claim EI will be getting three ex-Finnair 752's from air Contractors

is that the original 3 that were mentioned pages back on this thread (regarding 3 air contractors planes coming aer lingus' way), i.e. in here

mayfly757 wrote: »

Yup the 3 ex Finnair

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056876689&page=11

or is there ANOTHER 3 to come on top of the 3 that were already mentioned a number of times (making 6?)?

Zonda999

Its the same three all the time as I understand it. Why would EI need six 752's after all. In any case Finnair currently only have four 752's, all to be phased out and be replaced by A321's according to wikipedia anyway

I assume the core assumption is two 752's based at SNN for daily flgihts to JFK and BOS, with the other adding capability for a YYZ route from Dublin. And the spare A330 from SNN being used on the new West coast route from Dublin.

Actually, stemming from this, I can;t imagine there would be a huge requirement for say business class on a route such as SNN to BOS or JFK? Surely this has implications for how EI would configure such aircraft?

cson

Zonda999 wrote: »

Actually, stemming from this, I can;t imagine there would be a huge requirement for say business class on a route such as SNN to BOS or JFK? Surely this has implications for how EI would configure such aircraft?

Tell that to the GECAS execs in Shannon.

merisi

Zonda999 wrote: »

Great work!

You should send that to EI. They could easily use that render when they do a press release on the 757 acquisition. Speaking of, a post on the Irish thread on a.net says that in the latest Airliners World, they claim EI will be getting three ex-Finnair 752's from air Contractors

Yep, that's the rumour that's been doing the rounds for a while now.