Aer Lingus Fleet/Routes Discussion

sailing

mickdw wrote: »

Any Aerlingus pilot who would refuse such a mission without very good reason is a disgrace in my opinion.
Its a critical task bringing supplies to front line workers. They should be lining up to do it.

There has been no Aer Lingus pilot that has refused a duty. Don’t believe all you read on anonymous forums.

d51984

Hopefully someone remembered to bring a camera, looking forward to some photos, be a great bit of PR for EI.

easypazz

sailing wrote: »

There has been no Aer Lingus pilot that has refused a duty. Don’t believe all you read on anonymous forums.

Anybody worth their salt will pitch in at times like this.

mickdw

sailing wrote: »

There has been no Aer Lingus pilot that has refused a duty. Don’t believe all you read on anonymous forums.

Glad to hear it. As it should be.

N64

Return flight on it's way now. Due in at 3:13pm.

https://www.flightradar24.com/EIN9019/244a4bcd

PinOnTheRight

EIN9018 EI-EIM due out 1020z to PEK.
EIN9020 EI-FNG due out 1320z to PEK.

EIN9019 EI-EAV due back 1410z

Aviation2k19

There seems to be 5 positioning flights from DUB-SNN/ORK tomorrow. Are these A320’s positioning for storage?

sparrowcar

Aviation2k19 wrote: »

There seems to be 5 positioning flights from DUB-SNN/ORK tomorrow. Are these A320’s positioning for storage?

Yes

JCX BXC

Just an FYI, for those of you who keep seeing apparent photos of the 'Aer Lingus cabin' filled with PPE, majority of them are fake, old and reused from older non Aer Lingus flights.

The Dublin airport Facebook page is breeding them. Not surprising given the extremely poor quality of the content on that page as of late.

EchoIndia

Positions at 1245 UTC

donkey balls

I take it they will use the catering trucks/cleaning trucks to offload the freight in the cabin saving on double handling.

easypazz

Have Aer Lingus released any pictures yet?

d51984

Not yet, they will probably make a little video like they do on the inaugural flights.

easypazz

d51984 wrote: »

Not yet, they will probably make a little video like they do on the inaugural flights.

The crew must be under orders not to share anything.

Tenger

I've seen a lot of those pics.
A couple of websites (newstalk, Joe.ie) seem to have combined the actual pic of the flight crew with stock images of previous 'cargo in the cabin' flights.
You can see grey or blue seats in those pics.
I'm sure EI will publish pics soon enough.

But this difference isn't really noticeable to most ppl. And the scene is going to be virtually identical for the EI loading.
So I don't see the real harm in it.

Certainly getting a lot of positive PR for EI and highlighting how Irish companies/people are rallying behind our health workers.

sherology

easypazz wrote: »

Have Aer Lingus released any pictures yet?

I would assume there will be a little story on the news later... They have a story about it on their [rte] website (on the way out, on the way back, and no doubt 'arrived and being distributed').

Any good news in a storm type of thing.

Good on 'em

trellheim

how many of these flights are on the cards at the moment ?

goingnowhere

2 aircraft en route today, 7 more at least this week

mikel97

Hope not all a waste of time and tax payers money but in meantime medals all round


https://www.businessinsider.com/coroanvirus-holland-recalls-over-half-a-million-masks-imported-from-china-2020-3?op=1&r=US&IR=T

Sexual Chocolate

If we were to pretend that Dublin to Bejing was an actual passenger route, would a fully loaded A330-300 be capable of doing that route ? Or to even some where like Hong Kong or Singapore ?

Tenger

Sexual Chocolate wrote: »

If we were to pretend that Dublin to Bejing was an actual passenger route, would a fully loaded A330-300 be capable of doing that route ? Or to even some where like Hong Kong or Singapore ?

Yes. It was under 9 hours out. DUB-LAX is up to 11 hours.

I remember seeing a range map from about 12 years ago. Showed range of A333, 332 and 350.
Part of the EI "we've ordered A350s" pitch.
The HGW A333s have the range to get yo HK and Singapore.

Tenger

mikel97 wrote: »

NO. Certainly not fully loaded and returning with standard cruise winds forget it. 330-300 isn't a long range aircraft over 8 hours need to carefully plan the route including the diversion to acceptable airports.

Except that EI themselves operate flights over 8 hours on an A330 up to 4 times a day (Pre Covid-19)

Tenger

Tenger wrote: »

Except that EI themselves operate flights over 8 hours on an A330 up to 4 times a day (Pre Covid-19)

One route they fly in particular is over 10 hours.

Leaving Dublin going east with the winds behind you you would need less fuel for the trip. Leaving China and going in to the prevailing winds you will have a longer runway to carry more fuel. There are plenty of plus 9 hour flights in a 330 from China to Europe DAILY.

EchoIndia

Deleted User wrote: »

One route they fly in particular is over 10 hours.

Leaving Dublin going east with the winds behind you you would need less fuel for the trip. Leaving China and going in to the prevailing winds you will have a longer runway to carry more fuel. There are plenty of plus 9 hour flights in a 330 from China to Europe DAILY.

Hainan began their DUB services last year with A333s so not a new phenomenon.

mikel97

mikel97 wrote: »

Im aware of that as used handle them. Loads were on average 75-100.
The original question was a fully loaded as in Full Paxs and Max ZFW scenario then NO. The -200 is ideal for longer range as in over 8 hours. But just my experience thats all. Im no expert

Again, if EI can depart Dublin for SFO and LAX with a sufficient load off a short 28 for a 10+ hour flight and make it profitable for all the years they have been flying it then that is proof enough that a Chinese route with a longer runway for the longer time length segment is more than doable.

Luke-m

Tenger wrote: »

Yes. It was under 9 hours out. DUB-LAX is up to 11 hours.

I remember seeing a range map from about 12 years ago. Showed range of A333, 332 and 350.
Part of the EI "we've ordered A350s" pitch.
The HGW A333s have the range to get yo HK and Singapore.

You sure about that? I remember reading before on pprune that the a330-300 and 200 series would have big problems doing Dublin-Singapore and return with fully ladened passengers and fuel. A350 would have no such problems. Might have been a while back so not sure about HGW version.

Irish Steve

OK Guys, the professionals at Aer Lingus have done their sums, and for the planned loads, and the distances, they are happy that the 330-300's are able to operate within the relevant rules.

On that basis, lets NOT have a piss up the wall contest over a critical operation.

Thanks

sailing

To put the performance issue to bed, you can get about 230 tonnes takeoff weight on a normal day (no tailwind) off 10/28 in Dublin. The majority of the aircraft doing these have a Max take off weight if required of 242 tonnes. This weight would never be required for operations. With a full load of passengers if it were a commercial flight you could easily make China or similar Far East destinations on these newer 300’s. Range is not an issue. As someone alluded to above, Beijing is approx the same distance as LA on a great circle routing. These flights are taking off well well below their max take off weight on both the outbound and inbound flights. The cargo for this work would be considered bulky, not heavy.

PinOnTheRight

Some of toda’s movements with flight times for comparison.

EIN9016 EI-EAV due off 0720 to PEK - 9hrs 39
EIN9018 EI-DUZ due off 1020 to PEK - 9hrs 46

Returning today
EIN9019 EI-EIM due DUB 1305 - 10hrs 56
EIN9021 EI-FNG due dub 1625 - 11hrs 03

Also looks like 3 A320s being ferried to Shannon and 4 to Cork.

California Dreamer

Are they spending 5 hours on the ground?