Aer Lingus Fleet/Routes Discussion

Locker10a

zone 1 wrote: »

no just wondering its just you here other airlines growing which means demand for more AC.. but AL purchased 2 A330 this year were new the A320 seems to be the real work horse of the fleet they seem to be geting old.. i no the 757 are 20plus years old ... russian a320 plane is new addition to fleet is 9 years old all ready..

That have been growing their fleet, particularly the transatlantic fleet over the past few years and it thought to continue.
The age of aircraft have no relation to growth/success of airlines, The EI fleet on average is no older or younger than most of their peer competitors, the 757s are a stop gap untill the new 321neoLR comes on the market.
Over the next 10 years I'm sure you'll see EI getting new aircraft from a pool of aircraft ordered by IAG and distributed to their partners as required

kevinandrew

It's clearly very hard to find the right balance for the short haul business at the moment, in peak summer they could easily take on 2 or 3 extra aircraft but once that peak travel period is over they are left with capacity they have no work for. The other IAG airlines all operate in similar market conditions, busy summers, quiet winters so "borrowing" aircraft from any of them is unlikely as a long term solution. Finding leases for such a short operating period is also very difficult so their options are quite limited, usually they end up with short term leases, hire in aircraft from Titan ect. or just remain conservative in their growth plans. 



In the long term Aer Lingus will need to find a solution or it's short haul business will never grow in any great numbers again. In summer there's plenty of scope for growth but it seems they are unable to tap into its full potential because that extra capacity will be wasted come winter, that's why Aer Lingus needs to find profitable work in the winter or they need to consider a smaller jet aircraft (not the A319) that will free up capacity in the summer and then enable them to return to normal come winter. The Cityjet deal sounds like something that could work here but whether or not that is going ahead remains to be seen. 



The short haul network has been disappointing for a few years now anyway, every summer a new sun route or two pops up but nothing particularly interesting, it speaks volumes about how competitive the Aer Lingus model is outside of it's comfort zone. 



Without considerable change you can bet Aer Lingus will be one of the last IAG carriers to receive next generation aircraft from existing IAG order pools, the A320neos will go to BA, IB and Vueling first, the A350s are long gone at this stage and A330neos seem equally unlikely. Aer Lingus might be lucky enough to get A321neoLR's as the business case is already there and proven but with the 757s getting wifi, I think they'll be sticking around a bit longer than we originally thought.

Bussywussy

kevinandrew wrote: »

Aer Lingus might be lucky enough to get A321neoLR's as the business case is already there and proven but with the 757s getting wifi, I think they'll be sticking around a bit longer than we originally thought.

Heard on good authority there is initially 6 321s LRs coming,starting a lot sooner than you think.

Locker10a

Bussywussy wrote: »

kevinandrew wrote: »

Aer Lingus might be lucky enough to get A321neoLR's as the business case is already there and proven but with the 757s getting wifi, I think they'll be sticking around a bit longer than we originally thought.

Heard on good authority there is initially 6 321s LRs coming,starting a lot sooner than you think.

Great to hear this, can't wait to see what happens with them

Locker10a

kevinandrew wrote: »

It's clearly very hard to find the right balance for the short haul business at the moment, in peak summer they could easily take on 2 or 3 extra aircraft but once that peak travel period is over they are left with capacity they have no work for. The other IAG airlines all operate in similar market conditions, busy summers, quiet winters so "borrowing" aircraft from any of them is unlikely as a long term solution. Finding leases for such a short operating period is also very difficult so their options are quite limited, usually they end up with short term leases, hire in aircraft from Titan ect. or just remain conservative in their growth plans. 



In the long term Aer Lingus will need to find a solution or it's short haul business will never grow in any great numbers again. In summer there's plenty of scope for growth but it seems they are unable to tap into its full potential because that extra capacity will be wasted come winter, that's why Aer Lingus needs to find profitable work in the winter or they need to consider a smaller jet aircraft (not the A319) that will free up capacity in the summer and then enable them to return to normal come winter. The Cityjet deal sounds like something that could work here but whether or not that is going ahead remains to be seen. 



The short haul network has been disappointing for a few years now anyway, every summer a new sun route or two pops up but nothing particularly interesting, it speaks volumes about how competitive the Aer Lingus model is outside of it's comfort zone. 



.

If the deal goes ahead with Ryanair on offering codeshares/connecting traffic, then I think we will see very little change/expansion on European routes. The concentration will be on transatlantic mainly.

kevinandrew

Locker10a wrote: »

kevinandrew wrote: »

It's clearly very hard to find the right balance for the short haul business at the moment, in peak summer they could easily take on 2 or 3 extra aircraft but once that peak travel period is over they are left with capacity they have no work for. The other IAG airlines all operate in similar market conditions, busy summers, quiet winters so "borrowing" aircraft from any of them is unlikely as a long term solution. Finding leases for such a short operating period is also very difficult so their options are quite limited, usually they end up with short term leases, hire in aircraft from Titan ect. or just remain conservative in their growth plans. 



In the long term Aer Lingus will need to find a solution or it's short haul business will never grow in any great numbers again. In summer there's plenty of scope for growth but it seems they are unable to tap into its full potential because that extra capacity will be wasted come winter, that's why Aer Lingus needs to find profitable work in the winter or they need to consider a smaller jet aircraft (not the A319) that will free up capacity in the summer and then enable them to return to normal come winter. The Cityjet deal sounds like something that could work here but whether or not that is going ahead remains to be seen. 



The short haul network has been disappointing for a few years now anyway, every summer a new sun route or two pops up but nothing particularly interesting, it speaks volumes about how competitive the Aer Lingus model is outside of it's comfort zone. 



.

If the deal goes ahead with Ryanair on offering codeshares/connecting traffic, then I think we will see very little change/expansion on European routes. The concentration will be on transatlantic mainly.

Risky way of doing business in my opinion. Granted the Ryanair deal can provide feed from markets that Aer Lingus currently doesn't or can't profitably serve on their own but it risks allowing the short haul network to stagnate further, no growth, no ambition and exposes an obvious weakness in what was regularly described as a "robust" model.

JCX BXC

I notice that Norwegian have expressed interest in a deal with Ryanair and EasyJet for connections, although I wouldn't consider Ryanair a company with ethics as such, they did put in an unusual amount of resources into their takeover attempt of Aer Lingus a few years back. If Norwegian try hard enough, could Ryanair force a connections deal with Aer Lingus to fend off their home ground? I'd imagine both Ryanair and Aer Lingus would prefer the completion they already have between each other than competition with Norwegian.

Just a thought.

Bussywussy

The 2 A320s coming will be EI-GAL/GAM

Locker10a

Bussywussy wrote: »

The 2 A320s coming will be EI-GAL/GAM

Cool, so the 2 a320s are going ahead, that's great news

Bussywussy

not sure who said they weren't!!! Don't think porto was dropped due to lack of aircraft

Locker10a

Bussywussy wrote: »

not sure who said they weren't!!! Don't think porto was dropped due to lack of aircraft

Ah ok cheers, I somehow picked up one or none of the new leases were going ahead!
Has there been anymore regarding the cityjet lease for the summer ?

Jamie2k9

Just no net gain in aircraft, these two are just a swap.

Bussywussy

Locker10a wrote: »

Ah ok cheers, I somehow picked up one or none of the new leases were going ahead!
Has there been anymore regarding the cityjet lease for the summer ?

heard nothing yet,it could get touchy...zv and zw will leave as mentioned before

Van.Bosch

i see Willie wash has said their BCN LH operator wont be EI or Vueling. I suspect it will be a new entity, which can be used from multiple countries to combat Norwegian and Jet Blue further down the line.

I would have thought Vueling would achieve that aim...

Dardania

Van.Bosch wrote: »

i see Willie wash has said their BCN LH operator wont be EI or Vueling. I suspect it will be a new entity, which can be used from multiple countries to combat Norwegian and Jet Blue further down the line.

I would have thought Vueling would achieve that aim...

Maybe Open skies can extend their reach? Different value proposition, but could grow into something...

Locker10a

I read elsewhere it will be Iberia Express doing the flights, not clear on where the A330s will come from, I don't think it will be EI

roundymac

Van.Bosch wrote: »

i see Willie wash has said their BCN LH operator wont be EI or Vueling. I suspect it will be a new entity, which can be used from multiple countries to combat Norwegian and Jet Blue further down the line.

I would have thought Vueling would achieve that aim...

My understanding is that he said the EI brand won't be used, that could still mean an EI aircraft and flight crew being used.

Bussywussy

EI-GAJ will be the new A330

Locker10a

Bussywussy wrote: »

EI-GAJ will be the new A330

Do we have any estimate for EI-GAL/M/J entering service ?

Bussywussy

Locker10a wrote: »

Do we have any estimate for EI-GAL/M/J entering service ?

Not sure but wreckon L,M in April and J in may

Tenger

Locker10a wrote: »

Do we have any estimate for EI-GAL/M/J entering service ?

I'm sorry....3 new widebodies this year?
I thought it was only 2, with another 2 in 2018. IAG are definitely ramping up the expansion ex-DUB.

JCX BXC

Tenger wrote: »

I'm sorry....3 new widebodies this year?
I thought it was only 2, with another 2 in 2018. IAG are definitely ramping up the expansion ex-DUB.

The other 2 are A320's apperently.

AndyBoBandy

From this



to this



both apparently still flying today



The left one is flying for Hemus Air as LZ-HBE. The other one (EI-CLI) is now flying for Taban Air as LZ-HBG.

Locker10a

Tenger wrote: »

Locker10a wrote: »

Do we have any estimate for EI-GAL/M/J entering service ?

I'm sorry....3 new widebodies this year?
I thought it was only 2, with another 2 in 2018.  IAG are definitely ramping up the expansion ex-DUB.

Im sorry, should have clarified, EI-GAL/M are the replacement 320s for EZW/V, EI-GAJ is the new A330

trellheim

there was a bunch of fleet parked up on the far aprons thear is week , is it just that time of year ?

Locker10a

trellheim wrote: »

there was a bunch of fleet parked up on the far aprons thear is week , is it just that time of year ?

Yeah very common this time of year

Bussywussy

trellheim wrote: »

there was a bunch of fleet parked up on the far aprons thear is week , is it just that time of year ?

Correct!

Anyone heard anything about an IAG order for CS300's and 10 fro EI ?

Locker10a

Deleted User wrote: »

Anyone heard anything about an IAG order for CS300's and 10 fro EI ?

Nope, but that's fairly exciting news, I think the CS300 would be a perfect aircraft for EI

Locker10a

Locker10a wrote: »

Nope, but that's fairly exciting news, I think the CS300 would be a perfect aircraft for EI

Nothing but a rumour at the moment certainly would be an interesting move for EI, BA are phasing out their 319's so either it's a replacement for those or going to city flyer to replace the ERJ's.