irishguy28

kered

A return of the LAX service ^^

Miami ^

But, Hartford Ct, huh

ROKNA

Well there are two A330's on the production schedule for early 2016 with Aer Lingus named as carrier

Presumably a IAG slot allocated to EI to get some airframes quickly. EI use the GE CF6 engine same as Iberia

LupineChemist

They can use IB's 330 orders now as well. Personally hoping we get to keep them down here to retire the old IB340-300s but I would imagine it would be a greater cost savings to IAG to end wet lease arrangements first.

irishguy28

News of an apparent $5 million subsidy to EI was leaked last April:

It clearly didn't happen in that budget cycle, but who's to say that the same (or similar) carrot is not being dangled again...in front of a newly-minted IAG airline intent on opening up new markets

kered

I can see Hartford as being an interesting holiday destination, nice part of the country alright. But surely BOS can do the same job ?

If it's a subsidy route, well then it probably will be relatively short lived. I believe the BWI route operated some years ago was under a similar arrangement, but once the initial funding ran out / expired, the route was pulled.

As an aside & purely from a personal viewpoint, I really do hope the current IAD route continues. IAD has featured rather a lot in my travel patterns over the years & is set to do so for the foreseeable future, as I have quite a lot of family connections in the area. In fact I'm currently in Fredricksburg VA visiting family & being able to fly direct from DUB to IAD was really great. No more traipsing through LHR connecting with BA or VS.

Likewise with the rumours of the reinstatement of LAX ^

Mrs Kered & I typically travel to VA/MD to visit family, or holiday in Boston, Orlando & Southern CA, so if EI did start up LAX again, it would mean we could exclusively fly with EI TATL & that would be just super

Ber2dca

Meanwhile I try to avoid Aer Lingus long-haul. I don't like their overall package. In Europe it's typically Aer Lingus or Ryanair, so Aer Lingus tends to get my money but TATL you can do better.

kered

Just goes to show that the old saying....... YMMV ...... is very relevant ^

I must say that I'm a huge fan of EI's TATL Business Class product. I've been lucky enough to have travelled with both BA & VS TATL many times over the years, in their respective premium cabins, but much prefer EI's product in comparison, even more so now that the new cabins are fitted throughout the fleet. And I include BA's F in that.

Each & every flight with EI has been as good, if not better than the previous.

Hopefully, I haven't just jinxed myself & next weekend's flight home will change all that

tangey

New EI long haul direct routes out of Ireland would definitely be great, especially for those looking for redemption options. Of course the AIG takeover means its hard to know at what mileage/taxes these routes will end up, but one can always hope that EI redemptions will remain attractive

Concerto

Hartford BDL airport is a brilliant alternative to the over busy East coast main airports and depending on where you want to go it can be a real timesaver. No lines, no masses of people milling about, pleasant employees, manageable size without endless distances to gates. It's really pleasant as far as US airports go, a bit like how it used to be. It's really not far to Boston. KLM and Northwest had some deal there a few years ago with a nonstop to Amsterdam.

Cltfc

the Irish media reports are indicating that a relaunch of the LAX service is anticipated with Miami and Philadelphia among cities it is considering for a new east coast route.

http://www.independent.ie/business/i...-31606674.html

I suspect this is a diversion by naming Philadelphia and Miami, and in the end it will probably be Bradley, but long term without subsidies I don't seethe BDL route being a winner for Aer Lingus. Given the IAG acquisition, Miami and Philadelphia with all of their One World connectivity make much more sense

kered

Philly I can see, as US/AA are doing very well on that route for some time now.
But wouldn't it be nice if EI could open up a route, not already covered, rather than just going head to head with someone else. SFO being a current route they have to themsleves, LAX & MIA being the two rumoured routes that they would have also to themselves.

I don't where that other route might actually be & if they did open LAX & MIA, their route structure across the pond, would be pretty darn good, without going anywhere else IMO.

But just thinking out loud, I wonder would YVR be a nice companion to YYZ ?

soy

If they do PHL, then it will just be a case of taking over the AA route. Not sure that I see this happening, more likely that AA would give them CLT.

MIA on the other hand would seem to make a lot of sense, however right now LAX and BDL are the most likely. In future years I could see YUL, DFW, IAD and even YVR some day.

Cltfc

CLT is seasonal and Cant support Dublin year round despite being feed by +600 domestic flights. So Aer lingus will not be flying there anytime soon.

Owenc

I was reading on another forum, someone raving about a service to Newark. No thanks!

Newark is strictly a United service. It is great to have the choice of alternative airlines with a better service in economy. I wouldn't like to see Aer Lingus getting a monopoly.

Anyway, good to hear about those routes. I hope that Miami does start planned, hopefully Aer Lingus can start some routes to places that other airlines don't travel to in order to provide a better choice of destinations.