Aer Lingus Fleet/ Routes Discussion Pt 2 (ALL possible routes included)

dean333

DVE is still in old colours

Gary walsh 32

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123289391#Comment_123289391

probaly replace der when it's done

LimaBravoTango

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123288893#Comment_123288893

EI-XLU still has a white tail. Likely awaiting a slot for paint. Possibly XLV may be delivered before it.

kevinandrew

According to CAA stats, Aer Lingus UK had a healthy 85% load factor in December, rounding off an overall 75% for the full year.

By comparison, 2023 had just under 70% on average. Load factors only tell part of the story of course but the trends are good for the small base.

Unfortunately being such a small base means any meaningful growth has to come from additional aircraft and that means big investment but with Aer Lingus being traditionally very cautious, even a little hesitant, I don't think we'll see anything new at MAN for quite some time. The three routes to JFK, MCO and BGI appear to be getting the job done.

Tenger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123289662#Comment_123289662

Had to look it up.
EI-XLS is a private jet, a Cessna Citation.
https://www.planespotters.net/photos/reg/EI-XLS#google_vignette

So, its XLW and XLX to finish the order?

L1011

I hope XLS is owned by an accountant…

Tenger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123293734#Comment_123293734

That would have a serendipity to it.

Noxegon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123293737#Comment_123293737

I feel duty bound to share two of my favourites:

https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/10328839

https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/9092642

john boye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123293707#Comment_123293707

Obviously this comes with major health warnings but I was talking to two EI UK pilots recently and they're confident they're getting another A330 "soon".

Van.Bosch

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123293980#Comment_123293980

I was wonder why pilots or crew think they would be in the know. Do they think the planning department run ideas by them?

dean333

there has been internal meetings departments Q&A to regarding to all such matters including development and plans I’ve heard so I’m guessing they could as crew

john boye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123294295#Comment_123294295

Not only that but they "knew" what routes will be launched with it too.

Captain_Crash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123294295#Comment_123294295

They would to a degree yeah. They might not know what decisions will be ultimately made but there are plenty of discussions that happen internally regarding fleet/route planning so they’d be in a good position to know what the company are thinking. The likes of an extra 330 in MAN could simply be noticed by an increase in MAN based 330 pilots, a number of left seats coming available at once with no retirements etc… there are lots of subtle giveaways aside from internal meetings.

Locker10a

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123295084#Comment_123295084

Any hints for us ?

Tenger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123294295#Comment_123294295

Aer Lingus have management pilots who would be privy to route/fleet planning. They talk to their colleagues when they are on the lines.
Similarly dept heads will provide periodic briefings to their staff with an optimisitc slant. (Expansion = safer jobs/more choices = better morale)
In addition, EI crew and pilots are able to stop and chat to middle management about futures plans.

Of course, on the other hand you get lots of rumours based upon planning meetings or proposals for routes/aircraft/programs that never actually get past the proposal stage.

jwm121

Are the 330s not already flat out in Dublin? The cap is a pressing issue in Dublin, but other than that, our national carrier moving aircraft to one of Dublin's main competitors in England seems a bit disappointing. They are a business so they've got to do what's right for them though. I'd like them to grow the short haul network further to feed the TA network so those 330s can be used in Dublin on more frequencies and new routes but heyho.

Shamrockj

That’s what I was wondering, where would this A330 come from.

If I was to guess the options would be.

-GEY stays in the fleet and either goes to Manchester or replaces an aircraft in Dublin that can go to Manchester.

-XLR would be used to replace an A330 in Dublin to transfer to Manchester.

- An A330 is sourced

john boye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123295871#Comment_123295871

Boston and Miami. Once I heard Miami was when I started having doubts about what they were saying, seems unlikely to me.

Qaanaaq

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123293980#Comment_123293980

You hear rumours all the time and we have heard about Manchester expansion before. I'd treat it with a pinch of salt.

I think that at least GEY will be returned to lessors and the 321 will be the main platform to weather a US downturn. If it gets really bad I'd expect more 330s to ge stored.

MAn will be impacted just as much as anywhere on a US downturn so I don't anticipate any expansion there.

EI will just try and use smaller aircraft.

kevinandrew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123297493#Comment_123297493

While I remain sceptical about any MAN expansion rumours, it’s worth noting that it isn’t as reliant on the US as DUB could be considered, at least from an Aer Lingus point of view.

Two other routes rumoured were Antigua and Cancun. I believe Antigua was essentially the runner up to Bridgetown, the tourism minister or an exec at the airport alluded to this back in 2021.

Again, I don’t expect any substantial growth from MAN for quite some time. The current two aircraft, three route base seems to working well. January figures show mid-70s loads.

Shamrockj

I guess they can also see what routes are successful from connections through MAN-DUB-US

JFK seems to do very well with high loads frequently, BGI has matured very well , MCO does well during school holidays but can be hit/miss it seems outside of that, daily is a lot of capacity in the summer I think for that route considering it’s not even daily from Dublin..

Jamie2k9

They seem to be recruiting direct entry for MAN every so often, does that mean many of the inital pilots have returned to DUB since base launch. They will probally get an A330 for winter 25/summer 26.

They also appear to have agreed a pay deal back in Jan to run until July 27.

https://forsatradeunion.newsweaver.com/designtest/1xmk0jmx1fr

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123293734#Comment_123293734

It speaks of finance limitations in Ireland that excel is regarded as being for accountants! Some of the most complex banking and investment models would be run on excel and those would involve people more likely to have access to private jets.

kevinandrew

EI-XLU headed to the paint shop.

https://x.com/tobias_gudat/status/1904581383294447684?s=46

Been in primer and white tail for a couple of months.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123298577#Comment_123298577

They shouldn't.

I know that they do, I have to work with some of the fallout from it, but people over-extending bits of Office to do things that they really shouldn't has been a problem for years. I've seen, or worse, had to support websites designed in Publisher, magazines laid out in Word, complex medical applications written in Access and business critical finance elements in Excel in billion dollar companies.

Its completely unsuited to the task, even if it can be forced to do it. Fragile, difficult (albeit not impossible) to set up so computationally complex jobs can run on something other than the end-users own device, breaks if you look at it funny, breaks compatibility on upgrades quite a lot, can throw its licencing status in a huff, no version control, poor file locking/multiple user access etc etc etc.

Van.Bosch

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123299055#Comment_123299055

love a rant like this - you can feel the pain of the experience oozing out😀

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123293775#Comment_123293775

Or, closer to home

Kcormahs

Iberia just announced it will operate four times weekly to Orlando and has unveiled new destinations in Brazil, complemented by routes to Shanghai and Tokyo, along with expansions to Africa and the Middle East.

For those who once believed IAG was content with Aer Lingus focusing solely on North America and Iberia on South America, this is now clearly untrue. Iberia is currently flying to over 10 different cities in the U.S., whereas Aer Lingus remains limited to the U.S. market.

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123300024#Comment_123300024

indeed it’s a shocker that a country with 9 times Ireland’s population might manage to support an airline with global ambitions/

Kcormahs

If you want to go down the route of markets per population, just look at Singapore, a country with a similar population to Ireland, yet it has an airline with a global presence.