Aer Lingus

[Jerry]

Doesn't look like BHX-DUB is going to be back anytime soon ?? Surprised though that BHX is not on the network at all in October with our large Irish community ?

It's possible that Ryanair cater for a lot of the point 2 point demand while Aer lingus rely a lot on transfer traffic to the USA which demand isn't high for at the moment.

 

[thunderchild]

Ireland has had a much stricter lockdown and a two week quarantine remains in place for all arrivals from the U.K.

Pubs have only recently reopened across the country and still remain closed in Dublin.

 

[Wrightfly73]

It is a real shame for Aer Lingus as they are struggling due to the lack of support by the irish government for aviation and the travel quarantine certainly isn't helping.

I think it is true that a large number of Aer Lingus passengers travel onwards but it's also true that there are a lot of loyal passengers which fly Aer Lingus to Dublin only and would rather swim across the Irish sea than fly on Ryanair.

Hopefully they are able to restore some form of Dublin service soon, Aer Lingus regional may be best suited initially.

 

[JENNYJET]

I would enjoy watching a TV series on Ryanair like the one produced for Easy jet if only to get a perspective as to why swimming to Dublin is preferable to many. I have no love for Ryanair but that is based upon media portrayal of O'Leary but when Christopher Ryan started they were a good alternative to the BA/Aer Lingus duopoly of the day but as is often said, one gets what one pays for!

 

[Matt995]

Doesn't look like BHX-DUB is going to be back anytime soon ?? Surprised though that BHX is not on the network at all in October with our large Irish community ?

currently 1 flight a day bookable from Monday 18th October, subject to change!!

 

[smithy108]

currently 1 flight a day bookable from Monday 18th October, subject to change!!

2 Flights on a Friday and Sunday

 

[Brum X]

Sorry forum and I got the info from :

News | Routes

Routes is the home of the world’s leading aviation network development conferences and events. Plus aviation news and features, and profiles of global airlines and airports.

www.routesonline.com

 

[smithy108]

Sorry forum and I got the info from :

News | Routes

Routes is the home of the world’s leading aviation network development conferences and events. Plus aviation news and features, and profiles of global airlines and airports.

www.routesonline.com

Looks like they are making regular changes. Now showing 2 flights daily except 1 on Saturday. Thats through to 9th November when it goes back to one daily. Guess other changes likely as they gauge demand

 

[Wrightfly73]

Aer Lingus looks set to return on the Dublin route on Friday. EI 263 is set to operate daily. The flight looks to meet connections to JFK & BOS.

All flights to be operated by Aer Lingus Mainline A320.

 

[Ash]

About time, admittedly I was surprised they left the route all to Ryanair to begin with!

Haven't they been at BHX continuously since the around the end of WW2? The other long-timer KLM managed to keep going throughout lockdown with a skeleton service at least.

 

[JENNYJET]

When I was little, my trips to BHX were greeted by Aer Lingus 1-11 and B737-200s, 1970's part of the original airport, up close to the fence where the current car park is, near the fuel farm and the Warwickshire Flying School hut.

K L M were also there along with Aviaco DC9's, JAT 727's.....those were the days!!

 

[Ray Finkle]

Haven't they been at BHX continuously since the around the end of WW2?

Aer Lingus started on May 2nd 1949.

There was a great 60th anniversary article on Gordon's Blog (linked below), some cracking pictures too

Aer Lingus - serving Birmingham Airport continuously for sixty years!! - celebrating 1949 to 2009

Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive Sixty years ago today - on Monday 2 May 1949 - Aer Lingus opened a direct passenger...

bhxflightguide.blogspot.com

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Aer Lingus started on May 2nd 1949.

There was a great 60th anniversary article on Gordon's Blog (linked below), some cracking pictures too

http://bhxflightguide..com/2000/10/ein-1949.html

I can't get the link to work, Ray.

Kevin

 

[Ray Finkle]

I can't get the link to work, Ray.

Kevin

Yes, doesn't seem to be working for some reason, tried a few things but no luck

Copying and pasting the link straight into Google brings in top of the list and it works from there, does for me anyway.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Yes, doesn't seem to be working for some reason, tried a few things but no luck

Copying and pasting the link straight into Google brings in top of the list and it works from there, does for me anyway.

Yes, that worked. A good article with many photos bringing back many memories. I can just about remember the BAC One-Elevens in the colour scheme with the white top, Green stripe and striped green tail (I also have an Airfix one to build with that colour scheme). But, I'm far more familiar with the One-Elevens and 737-200's in the green top with the blue, dark green and white cheat lines. Happy memories.

Kevin

 

[jfy1999]

This article is mainly about Manchester but it notes the explosive growth since 2016 in the number of BHX passengers flying onwards to the USA. To me this gives encouraging signs for the future as it seems many people who formerly flew direct with AA/UA opted to continue flying from their local airport instead of heading down the M40.

Birmingham is Aer Lingus’ best performing UK airport for transatlantic traffic development, growing by over 129%, with Edinburgh second (78.2% growth between 2016 and 2019) and Bristol (70.7%) third. In terms of net growth, Manchester is second (11,600 additional one-way passengers in 2019 versus 2016) after Birmingham (12,200).

anna.aero | Temporarily Unavailable

 

[Nethercote2019]

Makes you think why did they not come to BHX for transatlantic ops ?

 

[Coathanger16]

Makes you think why did they not come to BHX for transatlantic ops ?

Because although BHX increased by more, MAN is still the bigger market.

28,371 from MAN
21,654 from BHX

 

[Llandudno]

It’s always worth looking at the data, rather than the ‘headline’.

Percentage wise, yes BHX grew 129% compared to MANs 70%, but when you look at the absolute numbers, they both grew at roughly the same rate.

So for example, in 2016, MAN had 16672 connecting pax, BHX had 9451. That’s difference of 7221 pax.
Fast forward to 2019, MAN had 28371 connecting pax, BHX had 21654, a difference of 6717.

so as you can see, they both grew at a similar rate, and the difference in absolute passengers is not too dissimilar in 2019 as it was in 2016.

also if we were to take the article at gospel as to where they should have launched, then one could argue MAN-ORD should have launched given it had the highest fares and connections for the MAN figures.

Birmingham is clearly an important destination for Aer Lingus, it would be disingenuous to argue otherwise, but the MAN base was about backfilling the lost Thomas Cook routes and taking a battle to Virgin. BHX has/had neither of these so probably didn’t feature in the plans. (Edinburgh was touted in the initial plans for EI U.K., with Delta serving routes from EDI and being a partner for VS, was probably in the plan to fight the carriers up there too).

 

[Matty_85]

The UK flag carrier has a strong presence in Manchester, with the airline transporting 53,600 one-way passengers to North America from the airport via London Heathrow in 2019.

I’m very sure that if BA had a connecting flight to Heathrow from BHX (geographically not needed I know!) they’d be connecting more than 53,600 passengers to North America. Sadly there’s no real way of really measuring BHXs net transatlantic traffic when people are driving down to Heathrow