Aer Lingus stopping flights to Bucharest end of April

whomitconcerns

Anyone know anything about this..just found out last night. They cant tell me anything. Its a busy flight so not sure what the situation is?

Thanks
(sorry this should have been travel forum i guess, just realised that i clicked on the wrong search result to post)

dudara

Moved to the Travel forum

dudara

BuffyBot

Busy doesn't mean profitable. If they figure out they can earn more by using the plane elsewhere, that's what they will do.

whomitconcerns

yes i get that, but very curious, as not the cheapest flight, and full about 90% of the time I flew, and I have taken this flight quite regularly for last 4 years. There appears to be nothing publicised about it is the reason i am querying. Aer lingus don't even say on their website, i called the help desk last night and was told...but that was all they said

coylemj

Typically Aer Lingus wouldn't give a reason for ending a route. Mick O'Leary does it in a blaze of publicity to get at the airport in question (most recently Stanstead) if he doesn't like their rates or for any other reason he can dream up.

Giving a reason simply throws the issue up for debate (talk to Joe etc.) and provides an agenda for people who want them to keep the route open so I can understand why Aer Lingus would choose not to say anything. It's a commercial decision and most companies don't want to get involved in a public debate about how they run their business.

munchkin_utd

who knows why they have cancelled but at least theres another airline running a similar twice weekly service
http://www.blueairweb.com/
Sure it might work out for the best if they step into the lurch and offer flights on more days of the week than is currently available.

whomitconcerns

yes have flown blue many times, one way its great but the other way most of year leaves dublin at 1.30am and arrives there at 7.30am...so...ouch

OffalyPuzzled

Hello Travellers-to-Bucharest.
I've booked to travel to Bucharest at the end of March with two children on Blue Air.
We chose Blue Air since the date/times suited better than Aer Lingus, but now I'm regretting our choice as
I've been reading some horror stories online wrt service, reliability, etc with Blue Air.
I'm starting to think that I might cancel..
I would be grateful if you could give me your experiences with this airline.

Many thanks.

Jamie2k9

Blue Air flights from Dublin seem to be fine on time almost all the time etc. Its the times DUB flights operate at which are in its favour for delays etc.

Aer Lingus dropping the route its not because it was loss making etc, its because they can make more money flying the aircraft to Faro and Palma in the summer. They may resume in the winter but unlikely.

Might give Wizz Air a chance to operate it from DUB but Ryanair will most likely jump on it as soon as it happens so it probably wont.

rtw

OffalyPuzzled wrote: »

Hello Travellers-to-Bucharest.
I've booked to travel to Bucharest at the end of March with two children on Blue Air.
We chose Blue Air since the date/times suited better than Aer Lingus, but now I'm regretting our choice as
I've been reading some horror stories online wrt service, reliability, etc with Blue Air.
I'm starting to think that I might cancel..
I would be grateful if you could give me your experiences with this airline.

Many thanks.

I flew home from Bucharest with Blueair a couple of years ago, no problems with them at all! Don't see any need to cancel

OffalyPuzzled

Thanks for the re assurance. Not usually a nervous traveller but extra pre cautious this time when going with first time fliers.

bigneacy

munchkin_utd wrote: »

who knows why they have cancelled but at least theres another airline running a similar twice weekly service
http://www.blueairweb.com/
Sure it might work out for the best if they step into the lurch and offer flights on more days of the week than is currently available.

Blueair have taken the opportunity with both hands and have upped their minimum fares to >€200 return pp.

I have flown this route several times with both Aer Lingus & BlueAir. Aer lingus were great, BlueAir not so much.

Really hope either ryanair or wizzair fill this void & quickly. Competition will force blueair back down on price.

Will be travelling toward the end of April with aer lingus, but it looks like my flights in june will end up through Luton :-(

OffalyPuzzled

Hello bigneacy,
May I ask what do you mean by "BlueAir not so much" ?
Have you had specific issues? For example ???
How would you compare them with Ryanair?

Thanks in advance, Nervous Traveller.

bigneacy

They probably compare quite well with Ryanair, but just in terms of a comparison between them and Aer Lingus on that partiular route, I found Aer Lingus to be much better at customer service and friendliness. The seats were a lot more comfortable too.

Is it Bucharest/Romania you are going to, or are you going further on from there?

OffalyPuzzled

Hi bigneacy,

Just to Bucharest for two nights to visit some friends. So a quick visit. Not sure if they plan to bring us for a drive somewhere....kids might like to see Dracula's castle :-)

Thanks for the info on Blue Air. Seems they're not too bad so.
There were some hair-raising reviews on http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews136551.html
- hence my apprehension. Can't complain about the price (I booked last Sept).

munchkin_utd

bigneacy wrote: »

Blueair have taken the opportunity with both hands and have upped their minimum fares to >€200 return pp.
<snip>

its possible they have increased it, but its also possible that the reduction in capacity (by half) has lead to higher demand and all the cheaper seats are booked out.

I am always minded by such threads when folks attack Ryanair for "increasing" their prices whenever a draw is made for a football game and prices for that weekend increase suddenly.
Well, the prices arent really increasing but rather the cheap seats have sold out very quickly and theres only a limited number of the last available seats for more expensive then before.

From skyscanner theres connecting flights on 1 ticket with luggage checked through (and a case or 2 included in the price) via paris or frankfurt for as cheap as 180return and some of the flight durations arent all that much more than the direct flight.
With Lufthansa you also get a complimentary snack and drinks so overall its actually quite a pleasant journey with them.
Frankfurt airport also isnt the worst so long as you arent hungry and landing there late at night, as like many large airports their facilities ramp down very quickly once it gets to 8 or 9 in the evening.

Fagashlil

OffalyPuzzled wrote: »

Just to Bucharest for two nights to visit some friends. So a quick visit. Not sure if they plan to bring us for a drive somewhere....kids might like to see Dracula's castle :-)

Slightly OT for ya, but it's at least an 8 hour round trip from Bucharest to Bran where the castle is!

bigneacy

About 8 hours of dirt track nearly! If you're staying on the eastern side of bucharest you're only about 2.5 hours from the Golden Sands holiday resort on the Black Sea Coast - weather is just fantastic this time of year - not too hot for the kids! again OT - i'm sure you're friend will have plenty for you to do while you're there!

OffalyPuzzled

Cool - thanks for the advice Fagashlil and bigneacy.
Didn't think about beach...might pack swim gear just in case. Dracula will have to wait until we go on a longer visit :-)

Jamie2k9

Tarom Romanian will start Dublin service from 1 May so Blue Air will still have to compete with them. 3 weekly service arriving Dublin at 23.30 and departing at 00.20.

bigneacy

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Tarom Romanian will start Dublin service from 1 May so Blue Air will still have to compete with them. 3 weekly service arriving Dublin at 23.30 and departing at 00.20.

Hi Jamie,

Was just on the the Tarom website - where did you get this info? Can't find anything on their site? Only news for an Amsterdam route in May?

Jamie2k9

Dublin Airport have a news release on the home page of their website. It was only announced a day or so ago so it may not be on sale yet.

OffalyPuzzled

Hi! We're back from Bucharest so I thought I'd update you on our experience with Blue Air.

No problems at all from start to finish. Quick check-in in both Dublin and Bucharest. No issues with baggage (I had made sure that we complied with their specifications). They didn't seem too fussy about bag sizes going from Dublin -> Bucharest but, on return journey, each carry-on bag was checked. I think this is fair enough. Need to ensure that there's enough storage area for everyone. The flights themselves were fine. Both departed and arrived more-or-less on time (even despite the snow in Bucharest) . We booked seats at the front of the plane - no issues. We got the correct seats. Saw two rude Irish men trying to take front seats which they hadn't booked - played dumb when the stewardess told them they were in the wrong seat but she took no guff from them and sent them to their designated seats in the middle of the plane.
For Eur80 return, I don't think you could beat them. Would definitely recommend.