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

I believe the first EI XLR flight will be to Washington DC on the 8th December.

51st and Green is a dump so the business class experience didn’t start well. Used it last week to BOS. Forget about eating breakfast here. Plenty of take away sandwiches and k okastries though. Breakfast was scrambled egg (when it eventually came out) beans and black and white pudding. No bacon or pork sausages. Something to do with US CBP. No cutlery for example and staff who don’t give a shite was my experience.

Boarding process was fine. It was a 330-300. Juice or champagne pre departure drink. Choice of starters and main. Good choice of wines. Movies selection same as economy but headphones and screen are bigger. Booze offering stops after dinner service or should I say they don’t come around anymore to offer it. Afternoon tea about 90 minutes out. Nice touch. The 321LR business cabin has a more intimate feel. No changes noted other than a in 2022 and 2023 you were served a steak option now that has changed to a braised beef which tastes inferior. Paying for it coming east bound is a bit if a waste I think from the East coast for a flight that lasts 5 and a half hours sometimes.

Noticed that CVB has been grounded in Dublin since the 25th. Anyone know when she’s due to be retired?

Do we know what the new biz seat manufacturer/model is?

I didn’t think the A330 retrofits were happening until next winter, 25/26 as they haven’t even announced the new business product yet and were rumoured to be considering Premium Economy as well but not until 2026 at the earliest.

Not worth diverting to when you have to go through CBP beforehand.

51&G comments are accurate, place is overcapacity and grubby, they've at least added a Guinness tap but gone are the Taytos and physical newspapers. If you're doing ORD-DUB you'll see what a proper J lounge looks like in the ORD AA Flagship lounge.

Food is pretty decent tbf, miles better than what BA served me on IAD-LHR. Both starters are quality, I actually liked the beef despite the comments above, though polenta is a super odd side to have with it.

Seats are definitely showing wear and tear too at this point, I've been involuntarily downgraded on 2 occasions thanks to J seats going tech, of course EI just shrug at this when it happens - 'sucks to be you' and the like.

The free Wifi is a nice differentiator, I definitely appreciate it.

Food in J on BA is very hit & miss. I use them regularly for business and status. I had a shocking meal, starter and main on one of their 380's earlier this year, in fairness, i made the mistake of ordering the beef. Can't imagine Tom Kerridge would be happy sticking his name to it anyway.

Staff are excellent on BA, but the hard product on some of their aircraft isn't great (777's)

I'd prefer them to EI anyway.

I'm flying J(Thankfully a QSUITE) on Qatar for the first time in February, i'm led to believe the lounge in Doha is top quality(Have seen some reviews anyway)

The Doha lounge is great.

If you're finishing there, there's also an arrival lounge with its own immigration. That was a very nice discovery.

EIR PSO to Donegal is extended for another year.

Are these sums/logic right;

Donegal total pax in 2023 was 41,867

2 ATRs per day each way is 105,120 seats (365*72*4).

so assuming all pax used the Dublin route (ignoring Glasgow), the LF on this route is 40%?

That route also suffers much more cancellations than any other route across the network or the whole of Ireland. Donegal often the victim of low cloud base or strong winds.

Ref BNA - correct. They've run the numbers and would have to cap pax on it. It's not a rumour it's a fact based on the data run by flight ops and was passed on at a recent instructor meeting.

pretty big f up announcing the route anyway? Can’t see it working on an A330

Well Air Transat is already using the LR on flights 200nm further than DUB-BNA with a denser 199 seats configuration so without knowing any of the assumptions used for this EI rumour its hard to understand it.

Icelandair have also flagged KEF-LAX as one of their potential XLR routes which is nearly 500nm longer than DUB-BNA