Showing 1 Air Lingus Ltd Flights from Madrid - Starting at Just ₹17,242

  About Madrid

Madrid is one of the hottest holiday destinations in Spain and no, and we are not talking about the weather here. It's not as popular as Barcelona, but it is definitely a city that you must visit. Spain is one of the cheapest holiday destinations in Europe compared to other countries and is worth every penny spent. Madrid is an architectural marvel and is also known for its rich culture. You will occasionally run into an old Spanish Grandma or another local who is all excited to help you with directions or hand you a list of the best attractions to visit in the city. There are high chances of you befriending a lot of locals and staying in touch with them later on through social media. Not to mention, the city is musically inclined, and you will find yourself attending quite a few music festivals here. Of course, Madrid is also popular for its food, and you will want to visit the city again just for the gastronomic experience.

Best Time to Visit Madrid

Summer is one of the most popular times for tourists to plan a vacation to Madrid. However, a lot of local shops are shut during this time since the owners also take a vacation. If you don't mind the scorching heat, this is the best time to fly to Madrid. The temperature ranges from 15 to 31 degree Celsius in summer. You might also want to book your hotel in Madrid well in advance if you are planning to visit the city in summer. You can attend quite a few festivals and events during summers like the International Gay Pride, Mad Cool Festival, Feria del Libro and Veranos de la Villa. Tourists also prefer taking a taxi to get around the city instead of walking around to avoid the heat.

September to November is the autumn season in Madrid and quite pleasant, too. The temperature ranges from 6 to 26 degree Celsius, and this is also when most locals return from their vacations. The shops remain open, and you get to enjoy the highlights of the city at its best. You can also attend the Autumn Festival that happens in October and November. December to February are the coldest months in Madrid. The temperature ranges from 2 to 12 degree Celsius, January being the coldest month. This is also the best time to book a hotel in Madrid or get cheap flight tickets to Madrid since it is not a high season.

Spring season is from March to May and is a pleasant time to head to Madrid. It is right before the high season, so the locals are preparing to welcome a lot of tourists. The hotel prices are low this season and flight tickets are also pretty cheap. The temperature ranges from 5 to 21 degree Celsius and a lot of tourist spots are also open. The best part is that you get to hog the city to yourself since it is not very crowded.

Places to Visit in Madrid

Plaza Mayor, originally called Plaza del Arrabal, is a major tourist attraction in Madrid. You will find yourself admiring the architecture of the place and take lots of pictures. Royal Palace of Madrid is yet another tourist spot that has a lot of historical importance. It was built right where the Moorish Castle was destroyed in 1734 after a tragic fire broke out. It is one of the most important tourist spots in the city. You can also visit the National Museum of History, called the Museo Nacional Del Prado. It houses some of the best masterpieces by renowned artists like Van Dyck, Goya, El Greco, Rembrandt and so on. You will find paintings that date back to the 11th and 18th century. The Temple of Debod was a gift to the city by former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. Catch the best of artist Francisco Goya's paintings at the Royal Chapel of St Anthony of La Florida. The church also has the remains of the artist who was buried in front of the altar.

Teatro Real, or the Royal Theatre, is considered to be one of the best opera houses in all of Europe. It has a seating capacity of 1745 people, and you can even get a guide to take you through the theatre. You can also visit the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a monument that took approximately 20 years to construct. Watch some of the most beautiful fountains at the Plaza de Cibeles. It is also home to the bank of Spain, Linares Palace and Buenavista Palace. Madrid also has a happening nightlife scene. You can head to Barrio de La Latina for some delectable tapas, go dancing and have some amazing beer. However, if crowded places are a deal-breaker for you, you might want to steer clear of visiting the place on weekends.

Things to do in Madrid

You can go on a guided tour of the city. Reserve a day for museums, another day for art tours and a few days to sit back, relax and party. Madrid's nightlife scene is quite exciting. Make sure you visit museums like Museo del Prado, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Museo Sorolla and Museo Reina Sofia. It would be advisable to hire a guide for your museum tour. You'll get to know a lot more interesting facts about the city. You will find yourself appreciating the architecture, and you will be amazed at everything that you see in the museums. If you want to spend your evening relaxing at El Retiro, one of the most beautiful parks in Madrid. You can either plan a picnic on the grass or go boating around the lake in the park. If you are at Plaza Mayor, make sure you try the squid roll here. You will find a lot of restaurants here that serve delicious squid rolls. It is one of the most popular dishes to try here. You can head to Gran Via for a shopping spree and to La Latina for some tapas. Madrid is also easily accessible to other cities in Spain, and you can also cover other major cities in Spain like Barcelona, Seville, Granada, Ibiza and more. Madrid is a place you can visit with your family or your friends. You can also pack your bags and head for a solo trip to Madrid.

Food and Restaurants in Madrid

Traditional Madrid food consists of meat, bread and cheese. It's best tasted in tapas, samples of small plates of Spanish dishes. They come free with the drinks that you order at the bars. Mercado de San Miguel, a popular market that is located right outside Plaza Mayor, offers tapas along with cocktails, dessert, coffee and produce stalls. You can head over to El Tigre if you want to try some complimentary tapas along with your favourite cocktail. The restaurant serves a large plate of tapas, and even though the place is quite loud, you will enjoy your time here. You can also try paella (which is rice with fish), croquetas (fried breadcrumb rolls dish that is filled with mashed potatoes, meat and cheese), Espanola (potato omelette that you will fall in love with) and gazpacho, which is cold soup. You cannot leave Madrid without trying the famous jamón Iberico, one of the most expensive hams in the world. You will also find a lot of Indian, Asian, Chinese and Latin American cuisine in Madrid. Kathmandu Tandoori House Nepali serves the best Indian and Nepali cuisine. You can head to Antonio of Italia a Tavola for authentic Italian food. If you want to try street food that's also healthy, you can try Azotea Forus Barcelo and to Empanadas Malvon Retiro for Argentinean cuisine. Gramabar is a popular spot for everyone who is in the mood for American, Caribbean and Venezuelan cuisine.

How to reach Madrid (Transportation)

Madrid International Airport is called Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport and is situated in the Barajas district. It is about 12 km away from the city centre. The flight connectivity to Madrid from India is excellent. Turkish Airlines, EgyptAir, Lufthansa, Air France are some of the airlines that fly to Madrid quite frequently with layovers at Istanbul, Cairo, Munich and Paris; these are the most popular routes to Madrid by air. If you book in advance, there are high chances that you get cheap flight tickets to Madrid. You will also come across decent flight deals to Madrid online. Madrid Airport is well-equipped with WiFi, lounges and also has a sleeping room in case you want to reach the airport early and wait for your flight. There are lots of taxi and bus services from the airport to your hotel. If you are on a Europe trip and Madrid is on your itinerary, you can also take the Eurail that connects to France and Italy as well. Though you can reach Madrid by rail and road from any other European country, taking a flight to Madrid is one of the most convenient ways to travel.

  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.