Aer Lingus

[leedsman]

Re: Aer Lingus (Stobart Air)

has anybody else noticed that the afternoon flight to Dublin on friday has been dropped?

Good news, it looks like EIR are back to 3 Dublin flights on Fridays for the winter (from 4th Nov).

 

[White Heather]

Today was the first flight to Cork - does anyone have any information regarding the loads each way?

 

[LBA787]

Today was the first flight to Cork - does anyone have any information regarding the loads each way?

I've been told it was mid 20's both ways.

As for DUB future bookings are apparently looking strong!

:crazy:

 

[Bigman]

Bring on the big boys on the Dublin I say (Aer Lingus A320's)!!

 

[Tarn Spotter]

I would have thought Dublin as the gateway to the states and now Aer Lingus being part of the I A G group would offer immence scope for development as LBA as a feeder hub.
before she could do LBA/Dublin my daughter did Manchester/shannon/new york, she could leave manchester early monday morning and be in New York by 12.30pm, just in time to get a full days work in.
She rates Dublin clearence as good as shannon used to be.

 

[lbaspotter]

Looks like Aer Lingus has started to actively advertise it's Leeds/Bradford - Dublin route on the back ends of First Leeds buses.
Also notice no mention of the airlines Cork route though.

 

[Seasider]

Isn't cork supposed to finish at the end of summer? Whether for the winter or permanently I don't know.

 

[lbaspotter]

Good news is that Aer Lingus Regional have now started to release their summer 2017 schedule for sale, with the Dublin-Leeds route on sale operating up to 14 flights weekly

1x daily = Sat
2x daily = Sun Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu
3x daily = Fri

Looks like the Leeds - Cork might not be returning. But things could change.

 

[White Heather]

Anyone know what sort of loads have been carried on the Cork route now it has had a few months to settle? Seems like a real shame if it is dropped although I suspect it will impact on Cork Airport more than LBA

 

[whoshotjimmi]

I can't speak for the entire operation but my flight on Tuesday was 90% full.

 

[tleeds]

Loads on the cork vary from day to day! I'd say the average probably resides between 25-30. Some days you can have 40, others 20.

On the other hand the Dublin flight is very busy! A lot of people don't realise just how many onward connections actually use that Dublin route too, one of the big advantages being you can clear customs in Dublin as appose to on arrival in the US don't forget! On a bad day you'll have 50 on the Dublin to be honest..

The morning AM flight is regularly overbooked too!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CAA stats for June 2016 show 803 used the Cork route that month. I don't know how many flights operated so can't work out the average load.

 

[Tarn Spotter]

Tomleeds: My daughter now uses Dublin as states clearance instead of Shannon.
I though we might have heard more about Dublin clearence from Aer Lingus/BA for flights leaving LBA.
My daughter gets the 8.20 out of LBA arriving 13.20 in New York, alllowing her a full days work in N Y that day.

 

[White Heather]

CAA stats for June 2016 show 803 used the Cork route that month. I don't know how many flights operated so can't work out the average load.

I think the Cork operates 3 times a week so 6 rotations weekly - say around 25 per month. So that works out at just over 32 per rotation.

 

[tleeds]

TarnSpotter, indeed! It's a huge bonus for a lot of people if they prefer to get all the customs checks out of the way! I even know of people who book with BA, along with their frequent flyer number for example, and BA's reservations system puts them on EI (Aer Lingus) services!

I know last week a few pax were travelling LBA-DUB-LHR-JFK and that's worked out a lot cheaper...!

 

[Seasider]

TarnSpotter, indeed! It's a huge bonus for a lot of people if they prefer to get all the customs checks out of the way! I even know of people who book with BA, along with their frequent flyer number for example, and BA's reservations system puts them on EI (Aer Lingus) services!

I know last week a few pax were travelling LBA-DUB-LHR-JFK and that's worked out a lot cheaper...!

Seems a heck of a journey, why not go LBA-LHR-JFK or LBA-DUB-JFK or is the quest for the cheapest flight?

 

[whoshotjimmi]

I think the Cork operates 3 times a week so 6 rotations weekly - say around 25 per month. So that works out at just over 32 per rotation.

Hmm. Even with my rosiest of spectacles, that just simply is not enough to sustain it really, is it? Particularly if the ATRs were to be replaced in the future with, say, a jet of some description. I maintain that the problem with the Cork flight is that it is not daily, with particular emphasis on the lack of Monday and Friday flights. I think you could probably get away with a few 32 passenger sectors if it was full every Monday and Friday which, based on my recent trip, I think would probably be the case. Additionally, were it daily, the flight would probably attract more customers anyway as it would be of greater use to them. Daily would make it more suitable for business customers and Monday and Friday would make it suitable for weekenders for which Cork - as I have found - is huge.

 

[White Heather]

Hmm. Even with my rosiest of spectacles, that just simply is not enough to sustain it really, is it? Particularly if the ATRs were to be replaced in the future with, say, a jet of some description. I maintain that the problem with the Cork flight is that it is not daily, with particular emphasis on the lack of Monday and Friday flights. I think you could probably get away with a few 32 passenger sectors if it was full every Monday and Friday which, based on my recent trip, I think would probably be the case. Additionally, were it daily, the flight would probably attract more customers anyway as it would be of greater use to them. Daily would make it more suitable for business customers and Monday and Friday would make it suitable for weekenders for which Cork - as I have found - is huge.

The only thing to bear in mind is that it is generally accepted that any new route takes up to 18 months of operation to reach the point where passenger loads are truly indicative of performance. This route has been operating for just coming up to 6 months I think, so early days. As for whether an average of 32 is acceptable, I do believe the ATR is a very economical aircraft, so who knows if it makes money. I would suspect it is currently breaking even.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

The only thing to bear in mind is that it is generally accepted that any new route takes up to 18 months of operation to reach the point where passenger loads are truly indicative of performance. This route has been operating for just coming up to 6 months I think, so early days. As for whether an average of 32 is acceptable, I do believe the ATR is a very economical aircraft, so who knows if it makes money. I would suspect it is currently breaking even.

That's fair enough but the problem then would be with Stobart Air apparently changing their business priorities, a new airline isn't necessarily going to look at it and go, "oh, that's breaking even, let's have that route." If every flight was full and it was making a ton of money, any number of airlines would be in for it. Giving it time to settle in isn't necessarily going to work if the rumours are correct.

 

[White Heather]

I agree, and if they are then clearly the route isn't going to be given time to reach its potential which is a shame. Let's face it, if Aer Lingus (albeit operated by Stobart) can't make it work to Cork, then who can?