Aer Lingus may restart flights to US west coast
Aug 15, 2011, 1:45 am
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
Posts: 28,796
Aer Lingus may restart flights to US west coast
source: The Irish Times
AER LINGUS is in talks with four airports in California about possibly re-establishing a route from Dublin to the west coast of the US.
It is understood that Aer Lingus is in discussions with airports in San Francisco, San Jos, Oakland and Los Angeles about operating a year-round service.
Such a service would not begin until March 2012 at the earliest.
Aer Lingus is also believed to have had talks recently with the Dublin Airport Authority about adding to its long-haul services from here, which include flights from Dublin to New York, Boston, and Chicago, and a seasonal service to Orlando, Florida.
A spokesman for Aer Lingus confirmed that such a move is being considered by the airline.
We are evaluating a number of options and we expect to conclude those evaluations shortly, he said.
This will include assessing the feasibility of operating the service all year around.
While there is likely to be demand from business travellers, it is not clear if there would be sufficient traffic from tourists during the winter months to make the service profitable for Aer Lingus.
California is the top connecting destination for flights out of Dublin Airport, with San Francisco and Los Angeles separately among the top five.
Aer Lingus pulled its Dublin to San Francisco route in October 2009 along with other services to the US to stem mounting losses.
But changes to working practices agreed in recent deals with staff should alter the economics of operating flights to the west coast.
The airline currently offers indirect services to the west coast through code-sharing deals with United Airlines and Jet Blue.
Aer Lingus carried 96,000 passengers on routes to the US in July, down 3 per cent year on year.
Recent figures for Dublin Airport show that transatlantic traffic to north America the US and Canada grew by 7 per cent in June and by 8 per cent in July.
Travel has been boosted by the addition of flights to Charlotte, North Carolina, by US Airways and by strong inbound traffic.
Establishing a connection to the west coast of America is something that Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has called for since taking office earlier this year.
The Government is keen to cement links with US multinationals there, particularly IT companies in Silicon Valley.
A spokesman for the Department of Transport said Aer Lingus would be able to tap into a fund of about 8.5 million that has been set aside from the proceeds of the travel tax to promote air access.
In May, the US-based Irish Technology Leadership Group wrote to Taoiseach Enda Kenny and called for the re-establishment of the route.
It argued that it would be a huge boost to the continuation and acceleration of economic links between Ireland and Silicon Valley.
The lack of a direct route makes this journey time consuming and frustrating, and could also be misinterpreted as a representation of Ireland declining rather than embracing its technology and smart economy future, the letter said.
It was signed by 63 business leaders, mayors and state agency chiefs on both side of the Atlantic.
Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, John Hartnett, founder and president of the group, said: Were pushing to get it back. I think the opportunity and demand is there.
Mr Hartnett said he has lobbied Aer Lingus board members on the issue and called for a decision to be made quickly.
We need to push them to make a decision one way or the other.
AER LINGUS is in talks with four airports in California about possibly re-establishing a route from Dublin to the west coast of the US.
It is understood that Aer Lingus is in discussions with airports in San Francisco, San Jos, Oakland and Los Angeles about operating a year-round service.
Such a service would not begin until March 2012 at the earliest.
Aer Lingus is also believed to have had talks recently with the Dublin Airport Authority about adding to its long-haul services from here, which include flights from Dublin to New York, Boston, and Chicago, and a seasonal service to Orlando, Florida.
A spokesman for Aer Lingus confirmed that such a move is being considered by the airline.
We are evaluating a number of options and we expect to conclude those evaluations shortly, he said.
This will include assessing the feasibility of operating the service all year around.
While there is likely to be demand from business travellers, it is not clear if there would be sufficient traffic from tourists during the winter months to make the service profitable for Aer Lingus.
California is the top connecting destination for flights out of Dublin Airport, with San Francisco and Los Angeles separately among the top five.
Aer Lingus pulled its Dublin to San Francisco route in October 2009 along with other services to the US to stem mounting losses.
But changes to working practices agreed in recent deals with staff should alter the economics of operating flights to the west coast.
The airline currently offers indirect services to the west coast through code-sharing deals with United Airlines and Jet Blue.
Aer Lingus carried 96,000 passengers on routes to the US in July, down 3 per cent year on year.
Recent figures for Dublin Airport show that transatlantic traffic to north America the US and Canada grew by 7 per cent in June and by 8 per cent in July.
Travel has been boosted by the addition of flights to Charlotte, North Carolina, by US Airways and by strong inbound traffic.
Establishing a connection to the west coast of America is something that Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has called for since taking office earlier this year.
The Government is keen to cement links with US multinationals there, particularly IT companies in Silicon Valley.
A spokesman for the Department of Transport said Aer Lingus would be able to tap into a fund of about 8.5 million that has been set aside from the proceeds of the travel tax to promote air access.
In May, the US-based Irish Technology Leadership Group wrote to Taoiseach Enda Kenny and called for the re-establishment of the route.
It argued that it would be a huge boost to the continuation and acceleration of economic links between Ireland and Silicon Valley.
The lack of a direct route makes this journey time consuming and frustrating, and could also be misinterpreted as a representation of Ireland declining rather than embracing its technology and smart economy future, the letter said.
It was signed by 63 business leaders, mayors and state agency chiefs on both side of the Atlantic.
Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, John Hartnett, founder and president of the group, said: Were pushing to get it back. I think the opportunity and demand is there.
Mr Hartnett said he has lobbied Aer Lingus board members on the issue and called for a decision to be made quickly.
We need to push them to make a decision one way or the other.
Aug 15, 2011, 8:20 am
#3
Moderator, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles & Accor ALL
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: BRU
Programs: TK*G, Accor ALL Platinum
Posts: 7,601
I am not convinced that there really is a market for such a service in the way EI currently operate. They would have to market a California service more cleverly than before, i.e. in the US marketing seamless connections to mainland Europe and vice versa from Europe (especially now that the USPC is open), something they do very little.
They would also have to partner up strategically in the US, in SFO this would obviously have to be with UA. However now that UA have their own (CO) flights in in out of Ireland there might be less interest in doing so as CO already ferry significant west coast traffic through EWR. (And UA pilots/crew hate EI because of their outsourced IAD-MAD service).
The fact that EI does not belong to any alliance does not help either in this regard, UA frequent flyers get zero perks on EI.
There could be some business traffic but I think the Silicon Valley talk is just political hype. Irish-American communities are less pronounced in the west compared to BOS, JFK and ORD, so leisure travellers will have recruited more aggressively and that works usually via fares. Yes EI might get some route development cash but this would not be enough to sustain the route.
They would also have to partner up strategically in the US, in SFO this would obviously have to be with UA. However now that UA have their own (CO) flights in in out of Ireland there might be less interest in doing so as CO already ferry significant west coast traffic through EWR. (And UA pilots/crew hate EI because of their outsourced IAD-MAD service).
The fact that EI does not belong to any alliance does not help either in this regard, UA frequent flyers get zero perks on EI.
There could be some business traffic but I think the Silicon Valley talk is just political hype. Irish-American communities are less pronounced in the west compared to BOS, JFK and ORD, so leisure travellers will have recruited more aggressively and that works usually via fares. Yes EI might get some route development cash but this would not be enough to sustain the route.
Last edited by starflyergold; Aug 15, 2011 at 9:44 am Reason: typo
Aug 15, 2011, 9:37 am
#4
Moderator, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles & Accor ALL
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: BRU
Programs: TK*G, Accor ALL Platinum
Posts: 7,601
Well this was a short-lived summer news item then:
This afternoon, Aer Lingus confirmed to TheJournal.ie that there would be no return of any west coast destination next year, saying in a statement:
"Following a detailed analysis of the route potential, Aer Lingus has decided not to operate the route to the US west coast in Summer 2012. The analysis forecast significant losses."
"Following a detailed analysis of the route potential, Aer Lingus has decided not to operate the route to the US west coast in Summer 2012. The analysis forecast significant losses."
Aug 16, 2011, 12:17 am
#5
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: PHX/SFO/LAX
Programs: AA-EXP (1.7MM), BA-Slvr, HH-Diamond
Posts: 7,784
EI will do best with pax originating in DUB and budget travelers. I'm just not sure if that's enough to maintain LAX or SFO flights.
Aug 16, 2011, 5:17 am
#6
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Dublin Ireland
Posts: 79
They are either looking for more concessions from the Irish government or they have chickened out again , something tells me EI only know one way of making more money and that is cuts and not expansion , they will never learn and perhaps the sooner ryanair take them over the better, at least they have promised that EI will expand under their leadership
Aug 19, 2011, 3:50 pm
#8
Moderator, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles & Accor ALL
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: BRU
Programs: TK*G, Accor ALL Platinum
Posts: 7,601
It would appear that the "business lobby" who fly the occasional DUB-SFO flight now have UA in their sight.
Today's Irish Times:
How they are expecting to fill a daily A 330 service (if it had been EI) both ways with 320 odd pax is anybody's guess. 
Today's Irish Times:
ONE MORE THING: WITH AER Lingus having decided, in its own unique way, that it wont be relaunching a route from Dublin to the west coast of the United States next year, business leaders in Silicon Valley are preparing to turn their focus to alternative carriers.
John Hartnett, founder and president of the US-based Irish Technology Leadership Group, was hugely disappointed by Aer Linguss decision, and now intends to lobby United Continental hard about the route....
John Hartnett, founder and president of the US-based Irish Technology Leadership Group, was hugely disappointed by Aer Linguss decision, and now intends to lobby United Continental hard about the route....
Aug 20, 2011, 3:02 am
#9
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: DCA or IAD (originally DUB)
Programs: UA 1K 1.8MM, Hertz PC, Marriott Platinum/Lifetime Gold
Posts: 7,657
It would appear that the "business lobby" who fly the occasional DUB-SFO flight now have UA in their sight.
Today's Irish Times:
How they are expecting to fill a daily A 330 service (if it had been EI) both ways with 320 odd pax is anybody's guess.
Today's Irish Times:
How they are expecting to fill a daily A 330 service (if it had been EI) both ways with 320 odd pax is anybody's guess.
Aug 20, 2011, 6:54 am
#10
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 3,612
If we don't get it sooner I would bet we'll see west coast dublin flights return with the 787. It's exactly the kind of long thin route it was designed for.
The whole thing seems silly when Etihad flies a daily service to nowhere but the Aer Lingus can't make a service to SFO work.
Aug 22, 2011, 9:03 am
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
Posts: 28,796
Aug 22, 2011, 9:06 am
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
Posts: 28,796
Originally Posted by The Irish Times
ONE MORE THING: WITH AER Lingus having decided, in its own unique way, that it wont be relaunching a route from Dublin to the west coast of the United States next year, business leaders in Silicon Valley are preparing to turn their focus to alternative carriers.
John Hartnett, founder and president of the US-based Irish Technology Leadership Group, was hugely disappointed by Aer Linguss decision, and now intends to lobby United Continental hard about the route.
The newly merged US airline now ranked as the worlds biggest carrier currently operates year-round services from Dublin and Shannon to Continentals hub in Newark, where a lot of Irish passengers then connect to flights to the west coast.
Hartnett said his group has already reached out to United Continental, but now intends to step up its lobbying effort.
We probably now need to be more aggressive, he told me.
We need to concentrate our efforts on United Continental.
When I contacted the US airline this week, it was coy about the possibility of starting up such a route.
When asked whether it could be viable for the airline, it said: We do not have specific figures on the potential for this type of operation. Operating a west coast route poses particular challenges for any carrier.
It requires more resources including fuel and is dependent on there being the right market size locally in order to make it viable.
At United, we are in the business of being competitive and working to ensure that routes we serve are viable.
So, it sounds as if Hartnett and his 60-odd co-signatories to a letter sent to Taoiseach Enda Kenny in May lobbying for the launch of a west coast air service will need to muster all their powers of persuasion if they are to land United Continental as a carrier.
John Hartnett, founder and president of the US-based Irish Technology Leadership Group, was hugely disappointed by Aer Linguss decision, and now intends to lobby United Continental hard about the route.
The newly merged US airline now ranked as the worlds biggest carrier currently operates year-round services from Dublin and Shannon to Continentals hub in Newark, where a lot of Irish passengers then connect to flights to the west coast.
Hartnett said his group has already reached out to United Continental, but now intends to step up its lobbying effort.
We probably now need to be more aggressive, he told me.
We need to concentrate our efforts on United Continental.
When I contacted the US airline this week, it was coy about the possibility of starting up such a route.
When asked whether it could be viable for the airline, it said: We do not have specific figures on the potential for this type of operation. Operating a west coast route poses particular challenges for any carrier.
It requires more resources including fuel and is dependent on there being the right market size locally in order to make it viable.
At United, we are in the business of being competitive and working to ensure that routes we serve are viable.
So, it sounds as if Hartnett and his 60-odd co-signatories to a letter sent to Taoiseach Enda Kenny in May lobbying for the launch of a west coast air service will need to muster all their powers of persuasion if they are to land United Continental as a carrier.
I don't think that's a fair comparison. Etihad flights quite a lot of people onwards from AUH - Australia and New Zealand being the most obvious.
Aug 23, 2011, 12:14 pm
#15
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: SEA/ORD/ADB
Programs: TK ELPL (*G), AS 100K (OWE), BA Gold (OWE), Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 7,764
And EI has the opportunity to fly quite a lot of people from the US to Europe. Ireland is well positioned to fly people US-second tier European cities...