Aer Lingus Airlines

  About Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus is which means 'air fleet', is the national flag carrier of Ireland. The airline was founded in 1936 by the Irish government. The airline was privatised for a decade from 2006 to 2015. Following this, Aer Lingus became a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Airlines Group (IAG). The airline's headquarters is located on the grounds of Dublin Airport in Cloghran in County Dublin. Aer Lingus was also once part of the Oneworld airline alliance. However, the airline walked out of the airline alliance in 2007. It was believed that with International Airlines Group's takeover, Aer Lingus might rejoin Oneworld. However, addressing these claims, Aer Lingus' then CEO Stephen Kavanagh announced that the airline has no plans in the pipeline to join Oneworld anytime soon. Interestingly though, the airline does have codeshare agreements with Oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance members. Along with this, Aer Lingus is also involved in interline agreements with United Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Etihad Airways. As a company that follows a hybrid business model, Aer Lingus accommodates a mixed fare service on its European routes. At the same time, they have full service along with several cabin class flights on the transatlantic routes.

Before International Airlines Group intervened and eventually took over the whole company, Ryanair had some shares in Aer Lingus with 29 per cent of stocks. Meanwhile, the Irish state held 25 per cent of shares before the airline was bought over by IAG. Back in 2006, the Irish government had about 85 per cent of shares in the airline. However, they proposed the idea to float Aer Lingus on the Dublin and London stock exchanges. Other companies related to Aer Lingus namely Aer Lingus Limited, Dirnan Insurance Company Limited, Aer Lingus Beachey Limited and Aer Lingus (Ireland) Limited were listed on the market. These companies are currently wholly owned by IAG, along with Aer Lingus. The government of Ireland did not give in to the negotiations of International Airlines Group as they wanted to retain their 25 per cent stakes in the airline. But after much persuasions and negotiations, the government finally caved and agreed to give away its 25 per cent stakes in Aer Lingus, in 2015. Meanwhile, Ryanair, which held about 30 per cent stakes, opted to sell them to IAG in the same year at the cost of €2.55 per share. With all parties in agreement, the transfer of ownership was officially made with IAG becoming the sole owner of Aer Lingus.

Over the years, Aer Lingus has expanded significantly by acquiring many international routes and domestic routes as part of its operations. In 2007, the airline stated that it plans on establishing its first base at Belfast International Airport, located in Northern Ireland and outside the Republic of Ireland. Operations from the Belfast International Airport commenced the same year. Meanwhile, the airline started to accommodate and renew its fleet for better aircraft. In 2008, they had three Airbus A320 aircraft that was dedicated to serving eleven European destinations.

Further, routes to get a direct connection to London's Heathrow Airport were also initiated as Aer Lingus cooperated with its codeshare partner British Airways, to accommodate a Belfast - London route. Despite its profitability, the airline discontinued its Shannon-London route, owing to a political controversy which took place in the west of Ireland. Once the concern was resolved, Aer Lingus once again reinstated its popular route of Shannon to Heathrow. Following years, the airline brought forth several new services that would connect to more destinations.

Fleet size of Aer Lingus

As of 2020, Aer Lingus collectively holds a fleet of 56 aircraft. The aircraft that are part of the fleet includes 34 Airbus A320-200s, three Airbus A321-200s, four Airbus A321LRs, five Airbus A3302-200s and ten Airbus A330-900s. Aer Lingus is also expecting orders of Airbus A321XLR and its first Airbus A350-900 to join the fleet in the near future. They have placed the orders for four Airbus A321LR,s six Airbus A321XLR and five Airbus A350-900s. In 2017, the airline announced that they intended to finalise on their order of seven A321LR twinjets with a view to developing thinner transatlantic routes. The idea to bring forth such a change in the fleet was to operate profitable flights on the transatlantic routes. Using A330 didn't yield as many profits as the airline speculated, leading them to opt for an affordable and revenue-making aircraft. At the Paris Air Show in 2019, the International Airlines Group signed the deal to purchase 14 Airbus A321XLR aircraft, eight of which would be reserved for Iberia and six to Aer Lingus. With the inclusion of Airbus A321XLR, the airline plans to replace their Boeing 757-200s.

Baggage Allowance

The baggage allowance policy of Aer Lingus differs from continents and destinations. For checked baggage allowance, the airline has specified 20 kg for one bag, 25 kg for larger bags and 40 kg for two bags. For transatlantic routes, Aer Lingus follows the same baggage allowance where economy class passengers are allowed 23 kg per checked baggage. It cannot exceed the specified weight unless passengers opt to purchase additional baggage. As for business class passengers, the airline allows three pieces of checked baggage that should weigh a total of 69 kg. Passengers who are part of some of the airline's mileage programmes can get additional benefits in terms of baggage quantity. The weight is also altered depending on the type of ticket and the cabin class. While the weight can be varied, the baggage dimensions should not exceed 158 cm. It is essential that passengers follow the said requirement with their baggage as it would be easier for the airline to accommodate checked baggage. As for carry-on baggage, the airline allows a maximum weight of 10 kg along with an accessory bag.

In-flight services

Aer Lingus offers exquisite in-flight services for their short-haul, medium-haul and long haul flights. The seats installed in the aircraft are extremely comfortable and also recline to a convenient degree. Passengers can also request for assistance with respect to accommodating baggage in the overhead bins. The flight attendants have been trained to be available for any in-flight requirements. The seats are also equipped with personal entertainment systems in the long-haul flights. Not to mention how the in-flight meal services are definitely worth snagging.

Popular routes and top cities for Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus operates a total of 93 destinations spread across 24 countries, predominantly in Europe, the Canary Islands, North America and a few portions of Turkey. Much of its domestic routes and a handful of international routes of the United Kingdom and France are operated under the airline's regional airline franchise, Aer Lingus Regional. The airline is managed by Stobart Air. Additionally, with codeshare agreements, the airline further caters to about 100 destinations in the world. Aer Lingus has also signed interline agreements with Alaska Airlines, Etihad Airways, KLM, Air Canada, United Airlines and JetBlue. Some of the top cities for Aer Lingus include Toronto, Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Dublin, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Lisbon, Barcelona, Geneva, Zurich, Birmingham, London, Boston, Chicago and New York City - JFK. A majority of Aer Lingus' presence is prevalent in countries such as Canada, Germany, Austria, Poland, Croatia, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Why travel by Aer Lingus?

Aer Lingus is one of the few airlines that has sustained its prominence in the aviation sector. As an airline that is fairly old, Aer Lingus has consistently worked towards broadening its facilities and services to accommodate the efficiency and satisfaction of its customers. Over the years, the airline has expanded its reach from mere destinations in the United Kingdom and Europe to North America and Canada. They have better connectivity and newer international routes and domestic routes.

To keep up with the facilities offered by competitors, Aer Lingus has also upgraded its services. These include provisions for web check-ins. Passengers need to wait in long lines at the airport's check-in counter anymore as web check-ins and personalised kiosks are available at airports. Similarly, Aer Lingus' official website also has updates on flight status and flight schedules. Depending on the ticket type and cabin class, the in-flight services and baggage allowances are also shared with the passengers. Booking an Aer Lingus flight ticket online is also easier as the website has slots available. The ticket type also comes with benefits such as choosing seats and raking in other such benefits.

The airline has also introduced many mileage programmes as part of the International Airlines Group. Although in the past, when Aer Lingus was part of Oneworld alliance, it did have more benefits with respect to miles that passengers could earn not just from Aer Lingus but other airlines too. But the association of the airlines with IAG is also quite beneficial as it enables passengers to rake in miles from British Airways and Iberia too. In fact, passengers can also receive airport lounge access as part of the flight ticket.