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Aer Lingus

January 01, 1970

Aer Lingus (/ˌɛər ˈlɪŋɡəs/ air LING-gəs; an anglicisation of the Irish aerloingeas [ˌeːɾˠˈl̪ˠɪɲɟəsˠ], meaning "air fleet")[a] is the flag carrier of Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of International Airlines Group (IAG). The airline's head office is on the grounds of Dublin Airport in Cloghran, County Dublin.[citation needed]

Aer Lingus
IATA ICAO Callsign
EI EIN SHAMROCK
Founded15 April 1936; 88 years ago (1936-04-15)
Commenced operations28 May 1936; 87 years ago (1936-05-28)
HubsDublin Airport
Focus citiesCork Airport[1]
Frequent-flyer program
Subsidiaries
Fleet size74 (Including all the Subsidiaries)
Destinations93
Parent companyInternational Airlines Group
HeadquartersCloghran, County Dublin, Ireland
Key peopleLynne Embleton (CEO)
Revenue €467 million (2020)[3]
Operating income €305 million (2018)
Net income €205.5 million (2016)
Employees4,500 approx (2020)
Websitewww.aerlingus.com

Formed in 1936, Aer Lingus is a former member of the Oneworld airline alliance, which it left on 31 March 2007. After the takeover by IAG, it was expected that Aer Lingus would re-enter Oneworld, however, at a press briefing on 15 November 2017 the airline's then CEO Stephen Kavanagh stated that the airline has "no plans to join Oneworld".[4] The airline has codeshares with Oneworld, Star Alliance and SkyTeam members, as well as interline agreements with Etihad Airways, JetBlue Airways and United Airlines. Aer Lingus has a hybrid business model of low-cost and traditional carriers,[5] operating a mixed fare service[6] on its European routes and full service, two-class flights on transatlantic routes.

Ryanair owned over 29% of Aer Lingus stock and the Irish state owned over 25% before being bought out by IAG in 2015. The state had previously held an 85% shareholding until the Government's decision to float the company on the Dublin and London stock exchanges on 2 October 2006. The principal group companies include Aer Lingus Limited, Aer Lingus Beachey Limited, Aer Lingus (Ireland) Limited and Dirnan Insurance Company Limited, all of which are wholly owned.[7]

On 26 May 2015, after months of negotiations on a possible IAG takeover, the Irish government agreed to sell its 25% stake in the company. Ryanair retained a 30% stake in Aer Lingus which it agreed to sell to IAG on 10 July 2015 for €2.55 per share.[8][9] In August 2015, Aer Lingus' shareholders officially accepted IAG's takeover offer.[10] IAG subsequently assumed control of Aer Lingus on 2 September 2015.[11]

History edit

Early years edit

Aer Lingus was founded on 15 April 1936, with a capital of £100,000. Its first chairman was Seán Ó hUadhaigh.[12] Pending legislation for Government investment through a parent company, Aer Lingus was associated with Blackpool and West Coast Air Services which advanced the money for the first aircraft, and operated with Aer Lingus under the common title "Irish Sea Airways".[13][14] Aer Lingus Teoranta was registered as an airline on 22 May 1936.[15] The name Aer Lingus was proposed by Richard F O'Connor, who was County Cork Surveyor, as well as an aviation enthusiast.

 
A DH.84 Dragon, repainted in the livery of Aer Lingus' original aircraft "Iolar".

On 27 May 1936, five days after being registered as an airline, its first service began between Baldonnel Airfield in Clondalkin, Dublin and Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport, the United Kingdom, using a six-seater de Havilland DH.84 Dragon biplane (registration EI-ABI), named Iolar (Eagle).

Later that year, the airline acquired its second aircraft, a four-engined biplane de Havilland DH.86 Express named "Éire", with a capacity of 14 passengers.[14] This aircraft provided the first air link between Dublin and London by extending the Bristol service to Croydon. At the same time, the DH.84 Dragon was used to inaugurate an Aer Lingus service on the Dublin-Liverpool route.

The airline was established as the national carrier under the Air Navigation and Transport Act (1936).[15] In 1937, the Irish government created Aer Rianta (now called Dublin Airport Authority), a company to assume financial responsibility for the new airline and the entire country's civil aviation infrastructure. In April 1937, Aer Lingus became wholly owned by the Irish government via Aer Rianta.

The airline's first General Manager was Dr J.F. (Jeremiah known as 'Jerry') Dempsey, a chartered accountant, who joined the company on secondment from Kennedy Crowley & Co (predecessor to KPMG[citation needed]) as Company Secretary in 1936 (aged 30) and was appointed to the role of General Manager in 1937. He retired 30 years later in 1967 at the age of 60.

In 1938, a de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide replaced Iolar, and the company purchased a second DH.86B. Two Lockheed 14s arrived in 1939, Aer Lingus' first all-metal aircraft.

 
An Aer Lingus Douglas DC-3 at Manchester Airport in 1948 wearing the first postwar livery.

In January 1940, a new airport opened in the Dublin suburb of Collinstown and Aer Lingus moved its operations there. It purchased a new DC-3 and inaugurated new services to Liverpool and an internal service to Shannon. The airline's services were curtailed during World War II with the sole route being to Liverpool or Barton Aerodrome Manchester depending on the fluctuating security situation.

Post-war expansion edit

On 9 November 1945, regular services were resumed with an inaugural flight to London. From this point Aer Lingus aircraft, initially mostly Douglas DC-3s, were painted in a silver and green livery. The airline introduced its first flight attendants.

In 1946, a new Anglo-Irish agreement gave Aer Lingus exclusive UK traffic rights from Ireland in exchange for a 40% holding by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA). Because of Aer Lingus' growth the airline bought seven new Vickers Viking aircraft in 1947, however, these proved to be uneconomical and were soon sold.

 
A Bristol 170 Freighter at Manchester Airport in 1953.

In 1947, Aerlínte Éireann came into existence to operate transatlantic flights to New York City from Ireland. The airline ordered five new Lockheed L-749 Constellations, but a change of government and a financial crisis prevented the service from starting. John A Costello, the incoming Fine Gael Taoiseach (Prime Minister), was not a keen supporter of air travel and thought that flying the Atlantic was too grandiose a scheme for a small airline from a small country like Ireland.[16]

 
A Vickers Viscount 808 in "green top" livery at Manchester Airport in 1963.

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Aer Lingus introduced routes to Brussels, Amsterdam via Manchester and to Rome. Because of the expanding route structure, the airline became one of the early purchasers of Vickers Viscount 700s in 1951, which were placed in service in April 1954. In 1952, the airline expanded its all-freight services and acquired a small fleet of Bristol 170 Freighters, which remained in service until 1957.

Prof. Patrick Lynch was appointed the chairman of Aer Lingus and Aer Rianta in 1954[17][18] and served in the position until 1975.[19] In 1956, Aer Lingus introduced a new, green-top livery with a white lightning flash down the windows and the Irish flag displayed on the fin.

First transatlantic service edit

 
A Boeing 720 in Aer Lingus-Irish International livery in 1965.

On 28 April 1958, Aerlínte Éireann operated its first transatlantic service from Shannon to New York.[20][21] In 1960, Aerlínte Éireann was renamed Aer Lingus.[21]

Aer Lingus bought seven Fokker F27 Friendships, which were delivered between November 1958 and May 1959. These were used in short-haul services to the UK, gradually replacing the Dakotas, until Aer Lingus replaced them in 1966 with secondhand Viscount 800s.[22]

The airline entered the jet age on 14 December 1960 when it received three Boeing 720 for use on the New York route and the newest Aer Lingus destination Boston.

In 1963, Aer Lingus added Aviation Traders Carvairs to the fleet. These aircraft could transport five cars which were loaded into the fuselage through the nose of the aircraft. The Carvair proved to be uneconomical for the airline partly due to the rise of auto ferry services, and the aircraft were used for freight services until disposed of.

The Boeing 720s proved to be a success for the airline on the transatlantic routes. To supplement these, Aer Lingus took delivery of its first larger Boeing 707 in 1964, and the type continued to serve the airline until 1986.

Jet aircraft edit

 
A Fokker F27 Friendship at Manchester Airport in 1965. The F27 was used on short-haul services between 1958 and 1966.

Conversion of the European fleet to jet equipment began in 1965 when the BAC One-Eleven started services on continental Europe.[22] The airline adopted a new livery in the same year, with a large green shamrock on the fin.[23] In 1966, the remainder of the company's shares held by Aer Rianta were transferred to the Minister for Finance.

 
An Aviation Traders Carvair that was used as a vehicle freighter is seen loading a car at Bristol Airport in 1964.

In 1966, the company added routes to Montreal and Chicago.[22] In 1968, flights from Belfast, in Northern Ireland, to New York City started, however, it was soon suspended due to the beginning of the Troubles.[24] Aer Lingus introduced Boeing 737s to its fleet in 1969 to cope with the high demand for flights between Dublin and London.[24] Later, Aer Lingus extended the 737 flights to all of its European networks.[24]

In 1967, after 30 years of service, General Manager Dr J.F. Dempsey signed the contract for the airline's first two Boeing 747 aircraft before he retired later that year.

1970s to 1990s edit

 
A BAC One-Eleven in the old livery at Zurich Airport, Switzerland in 1975.

On 6 March 1971, Aer Lingus took delivery of the first of two Boeing 747s for use on the transatlantic routes.[25][26] The company later purchased a third for its fleet but quickly offered it for lease because it was not initially profitable for the company to fly 747s across the Atlantic. In 1974, Aer Lingus unveiled a new livery which eliminated the word International and/or Irish from the fuselage titles. The livery included two colours of blue and one green, plus the white shamrock on the fin.

In 1977, Aer Lingus recruited its first female pilot, Gráinne Cronin – the airline was the second in Europe (after SAS) to introduce female pilots.[27]

In September 1979, Aer Lingus became the first European airline other than Alitalia to be used by Pope John Paul II, when he flew aboard a specially modified Boeing 747 (EI-ASI or St. Patrick) from Rome to Dublin and later from Shannon to Boston. In the early 1980s, the 707s were phased out.

 
An Aer Lingus Commuter Saab 340 at Dublin Airport in 1993.

In 1984, the airline formed a fully owned subsidiary, Aer Lingus Commuter, so that Aer Lingus could fly to larger cities in Ireland and Britain whose flying time from Dublin did not require jet aircraft. These services employed five of the Belfast-built Short 360 after conducting a trial with the Short 330. Around this time Aer Lingus purchased a majority shareholding in the cargo airline Aer Turas, owner of some DC-8 freighter jets.

Between 1987 and 1989, new Boeing 737s arrived to replace the older ones, and six Fokker 50s were added to the Commuter fleet. During 1990, after the passage of the deregulation act for the airline industry in Ireland, Aer Lingus reconsidered its operational policies. It retired the BAC One-Elevens and replaced them with five new 737s. In 1991, four Saab 340Bs arrived at the commuter division to replace the Short 360 aircraft. By 1992, Aer Lingus's entire original 737-200 fleet had been replaced and it was now the first carrier in the world operating all three versions of the second-generation 737. These were the −300, −400 and −500 series, although the −300 did not stay long in Aer Lingus service.

 
An Airbus A321 landing at London Heathrow Airport in 2007.

In 1994, Aer Lingus started direct services between Dublin and the United States using the Airbus A330 and in May of that year, Aer Lingus operated the first A330-300 ETOPS service over the North Atlantic. This led to the phasing out of the Boeing 747 and the briefly operated Boeing 767-300ER. On 2 October 1995, the Boeing 747 service ceased operations after twenty-five years of service. By that time, over eight million people had travelled across the Atlantic in Aer Lingus Boeing 747s. The late 1990s saw Aer Lingus return to Belfast with service to New York via Shannon. It also added Newark Liberty International Airport as a destination, but discontinued these flights in 2001.

The first Airbus short-haul aircraft arrived in 1998 in the form of the A321, initially to mainly operate the Dublin-Heathrow route. Six were delivered in 1998 and 1999 and three of these continue in service today. The first A320 was delivered in 2000, with three more added to the fleet by 2001.

2000s to 2010s edit

On 1 February 2001, Aer Lingus Commuter merged back into the mainline operation. The business was severely affected by the 9/11 attacks in the United States. In response, the airline cut staff numbers and destinations and reduced its fleet. As a result, it weathered the storm and returned to profit, largely through lowering the airline's cost base, updating the fleet with modern Airbus equipment and developing new routes to mainland European destinations. Aer Lingus had previously largely neglected mainland Europe in favour of US and British destinations. It positioned itself as competition to the European no-frills airlines while offering intercontinental flights, phased-out Business class travel for short-haul flights, but retained cargo services on a small number of routes.

A large order for A320 aircraft saw deliveries commencing in 2004 and continuing to 2011. The delivery of these aircraft allowed the withdrawal of the Boeing 737. On 29 October 2005, Aer Lingus withdrew its last two 737 aircraft from service, marking the end of Boeing aircraft at Aer Lingus, and the beginning of an all-Airbus fleet.

On 27 October 2005, Aer Lingus announced its first scheduled service to Asia from March 2006 as Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, where Chief Executive Dermot Mannion was based when at Emirates.[28] Despite the Aer Lingus press release describing it as the first long-haul service outside the United States, there had in fact been a previous service to Montreal from 1966 to 1979. The great circle distance of 5,926 kilometres (3,682 mi) is comparable to the service to Chicago. At the same time, Mannion linked the funding of new long-haul aircraft to replace the A330 fleet with the privatisation of the airline.[29] The Dubai service ceased in March 2008 as the airline sought to increase its market share in the newly liberalised transatlantic market.

On 6 June 2007, Aer Lingus strengthened its relationship with the European manufacturer by ordering six of the new A350-900 and six A330-300. These were used to expand long-haul operations as well as replace three older models. Deliveries of the A330 began in February 2009. In, 2011 Aer Lingus switched their remaining three A330 orders to A350-900s, with delivery no sooner than 2017. The A350 orders were subsequently assumed by IAG in 2015.[30][31]

Flotation edit

 
The Aer Lingus logo painted on an Airbus A330 winglet.

In preparation for the commercial flotation of Aer Lingus on the Dublin stock market, the Irish government agreed to abolish the Shannon Stopover from the end of 2006 in stages.

The company began conditional (or "grey-market") share dealings on 27 September 2006 and was formally admitted to the Official Lists of the Irish Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange on 2 October 2006. At the time of the flotation, the Irish government maintained a 28% shareholding, while employees held 15%. The stock IPO offer price was €2.20.[32][33]

Aer Lingus withdrew from the Oneworld airline alliance on 31 March 2007, instead, entering into bilateral agreements with airlines including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Delta Air Lines, KLM, and United Airlines. Aer Lingus explained the move stating the carrier was repositioning as a low-cost carrier, which did not fit with Oneworld's pitch to the premium international frequent flyer.

On 6 February 2007, however, the airline announced its intention to form a new alliance with JetBlue. This new alliance was to act as a weblink between the two airlines, enabling Aer Lingus customers to book JetBlue destinations from the Aer Lingus website. In 2008, it also announced an alliance with United Airlines for connecting services within the US.

With the flotation of Aer Lingus on the stock exchange, Aer Lingus had planned to expand its route network, but this was put on hold due to the economic situation.

First Ryanair takeover bid (2006) edit

On 5 October 2006, Ryanair launched a bid to buy Aer Lingus. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said the move was a "unique opportunity" to form an Irish airline. The "new" airline would carry over 50 million passengers a year. Ryanair said it had bought a 16% stake in Aer Lingus and was offering €2.80 for the remaining shares, a premium over the €2.20 the shares were trading for. The firm was trading at €1.13bn but Ryanair's offer valued it at €1.48bn.[34] On the same day Aer Lingus rejected Ryanair's takeover bid.[35] On 5 October 2006, Ryanair confirmed it had raised its stake to 19.2%, and said it had no problem in the Irish Government keeping its 28.3%. The Irish Times reported that the Government would possibly seek judgement from the courts, and referral to competition authorities in Dublin – although this would be automatic under European regulation, as the combined group would control 78% of the Dublin – London passenger air traffic.[36]

On 29 November 2006, Ryanair confirmed it had taken its stake to 26.2%.[37]

On 21 December 2006, Ryanair announced it was withdrawing its bid for Aer Lingus, with the intent of pursuing another bid soon after the European Commission finishes investigating the bid. The EC has been concerned that the takeover would reduce consumer choice and increase fares.[38]

On 27 June 2007, the European Commission announced its decision to block the bid on competition grounds saying the two airlines controlled more than 80% of all European flights to and from Dublin Airport.[39]

Cross border expansion edit

On 7 August 2007, the airline announced that it would establish its first base outside the Republic of Ireland at Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland. Services from Belfast International commenced in December 2007. As of July 2008, the airline had three Airbus A320 aircraft based at the airport, serving eleven European destinations. Significantly, this move restored the Belfast International to London Heathrow Airport link and Aer Lingus cooperated with its codeshare partner British Airways on this route to connect with BA's network at Heathrow. To do so, the airline discontinued its Shannon-Heathrow service, a move that generated political controversy in the west of Ireland, particularly as the Shannon-London route was still profitable. The airline predicted that this move would add one million additional passengers annually.[40][41] The Shannon to Heathrow service has since been reinstated.

After five years at Belfast International Airport, Aer Lingus announced on 19 July 2012 that it would be moving its operations to George Best Belfast City Airport. The airline transferred its Belfast – London Heathrow flights to there, and also announced the operation of a thrice-daily London Gatwick service (no longer operated), and on 31 March 2013, launched services to Faro and Málaga. Aer Lingus based 2 aircraft in Belfast City Airport for the Winter 2012–2013 season and a third aircraft arrived for the Summer 2013 season.

Open Skies edit

On 22 March 2007, as a result of the EU–US Open Skies Agreement, Aer Lingus announced three new long-haul services to the United States. From Autumn 2007, Aer Lingus commenced direct flights to Orlando, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.-Dulles, facilitated by the arrival of two new Airbus A330 aircraft in May 2007. The airline also serves Boston (Logan International Airport), Chicago (O'Hare International Airport), and New York (JFK Airport). Aer Lingus ended its Middle-Eastern Route to Dubai in March 2008 and ended its Los Angeles route in November 2008. The Washington D.C. and the San Francisco routes were discontinued as of 24 October 2009. Services from Washington, D.C., resumed on 28 March 2010 when the airline began flights from Washington, D.C., to Madrid, Spain in a joint venture with United Airlines. The airline terminated this route on 30 October 2012.[42] Service to San Francisco resumed on 2 April 2014. Dublin–Washington Dulles service began in May 2015. The Dublin–Los Angeles route was reintroduced on 4 May 2016. Other US destinations include Hartford, introduced on 28 September 2016; Seattle, introduced on 18 May 2018; Minneapolis-St Paul, introduced on 1 July 2019.

Effect of 2008 recession edit

After reporting losses of €22 million for the first half of the year, in October 2008, Aer Lingus announced a €74 million cost-saving plan.[43] This plan included cutting up to 1,500 jobs, scaled back ground operations at Cork airport, and outsourced all ground staff at Dublin airport.[43] This met with a largely negative response particularly from trade unions.[44]

In December 2008, Aer Lingus announced that the Shannon – Heathrow service would resume from 29 March 2009 following new arrangements with the trade unions on staff costs and the Shannon Airport Authority on airport charges.[45] However at the end of June 2009 the company had accumulated losses of €93 million and Chairman Colm Barrington confirmed this situation could not continue.[46] In October 2009, newly appointed Chief Executive Christoph Mueller announced a radical cost-cutting plan that would lead to the loss of 676 jobs at the company and see pay and pension reductions for those being retained. The total plan aimed to achieve savings of €97 million between then and 2011. As a 6-week consultation process began, Mueller refused to rule out further cuts in the future.[47]

Second Ryanair takeover bid (2008/2009) edit

 
An Aer Lingus Boeing 737-200 and a BAC One-Eleven of rival airline Ryanair at Dublin Airport in 1992.

On 1 December 2008, Ryanair launched a second takeover bid of Aer Lingus, making an all-cash offer of €748 million (£619mil; US$950mil). The €1.40 offer was a 28% premium on the average closing price of Aer Lingus stock during the 30 days to 28 November 28 (€1.09), but half what Ryanair had offered in 2006. Ryanair said, "Aer Lingus, as a small, stand-alone, regional airline has been marginalised and bypassed as most other EU flag carriers consolidate." The two airlines would operate separately and Ryanair claimed that it would double the Aer Lingus short-haul fleet from 33 to 66 and create 1,000 new jobs.[48][49][50] The Aer Lingus Board rejected the offer and advised its shareholders to take no action.[51] The offer was eventually rejected by a majority of the other shareholders. It was the second failed attempt by Michael O'Leary to take over the national flag carrier. Ryanair initially left the offer open to Aer Lingus until it withdrew the bid on 28 January 2009.[52] The Irish Government slammed O'Leary's offer as "undervaluing the airline" and stated that a Ryanair takeover would have a "significant negative impact" on competition in the industry and on the Irish consumer.[53] Ryanair repeatedly stated that another bid was unlikely,[54] but it kept a stake in Aer Lingus, prompting an investigation by competition regulators in the UK.[55]

In June 2009, Aer Lingus re-branded its Premier Class to the new Business Class.

Gatwick base edit

 
An Aer Lingus Airbus A319-100 departs London-Heathrow in 2014.
 
Aer Lingus Airbus A320-200 lands at London Heathrow Airport, England.

On 19 December 2008, Aer Lingus announced that it would open a base at Gatwick Airport. Four aircraft were based there beginning April 2009, serving eight destinations that included Dublin, Faro, Knock, Málaga, Munich, Nice, Vienna and Zürich. CEO Dermot Mannion also said the company expects to increase the number of aircraft based at Gatwick to eight within 12 months.[56]

As of 6 June 2009, the airline based an additional A320 aircraft at Gatwick, bringing the total number to five and making Gatwick its biggest base outside Ireland. This resulted in six new routes to Bucharest, Eindhoven, Lanzarote, Tenerife, Vilnius and Warsaw which commenced in late October 2009. The Gatwick to Nice route was suspended for the winter months.

On 8 January 2010, due to the weak demand in air travel, Aer Lingus announced that it was to reduce the number of aircraft based at Gatwick from five to three. The three remaining aircraft were to operate the carrier's services to Dublin, Knock and Málaga as well as a new route to Cork.[57]

In January 2011, Aer Lingus announced a new daily service from Gatwick to Shannon starting at the end of March. The service has since been suspended.[58]

The service to Málaga was suspended in January 2012 and the base closed in 2015.

The Gatwick to Cork route ended 27 October 2012. A new service from Gatwick to Belfast City Airport started on 28 October, operating three times per day, and follows the airline's move from Belfast-International Airport to Belfast City Airport. That service was suspended on 27 April 2016.

Appointment of Christoph Mueller as CEO edit

On 6 April 2009, CEO Dermot Mannion announced his resignation from the airline after four years as Chief Executive.[59] He was replaced by German-born Christoph Müller (alternative spelling "Mueller"), former head of TUI Travel and Sabena, who joined Aer Lingus on 1 October 2009.[60]

On 2 December 2009, Aer Lingus announced that talks with its unions had broken down. As a result, the board voted to reduce capacity, and with it associated jobs, as a response. According to Mueller, concessions offered by unions were of a short-term nature, and the airline was asked for high compensation in return. Aer Lingus did not identify the routes or jobs to be cut, but they would most likely "commence immediately and will be compulsory," according to Mueller.[61] As of April 2010 all employees' groups had passed votes on the acceptance of the 'Greenfield' cost-cutting plans which were expected to save €57M annually. Once implemented the second phase of cost-cutting was to commence which aimed to save €40M annually by reducing 'back office staff' numbers by up to 40% according to the CEO.

Mueller indicated that Aer Lingus intended to reposition itself again, moving away from head-to-head competition with Ryanair in the low-cost sector to a more hybrid model with a stronger emphasis on service. As part of this move, Aer Lingus entered talks to join an airline alliance again, having left Oneworld in 2007.[62]

Aer Lingus announced on 15 June 2010 that it would suspend services from Shannon to Boston and New York (JFK) for 11 weeks beginning January 2011.[63]

75th anniversary edit

Aer Lingus celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2011. On 26 March, the company presented its latest aircraft which has been painted in the 1960s livery and the crew was wearing a selection of historical uniforms.[64]

Third Ryanair takeover bid (2012) edit

On 19 June 2012, Ryanair announced its intention to launch another bid to take over Aer Lingus, at €1.30 per share, for a total of €694 million.[65] Ryanair expressed the hope that the competition authorities would not block this attempt, pointing to the recent takeovers of bmi and Brussels Airlines by International Airlines Group (IAG) (parent company of Iberia and British Airways) and Lufthansa, respectively.[66]
On 20 June 2012, Aer Lingus issued a press release stating that having reviewed Ryanair's proposed offer, the company board rejected it and advised the company's shareholders not to take any action concerning it. The statement pointed out that any offer from Ryanair was unlikely to be capable of completion due to, firstly, the EU Commission's 2007 decision to block the airline's bid for Aer Lingus at the time, and, secondly, the UK Competition Commission's ongoing investigation of Ryanair's minority stake in Aer Lingus. Furthermore, the press release stated that the Aer Lingus board believed that Ryanair's offer undervalued Aer Lingus, considering the airline's profitability and balance sheet, including cash reserves over €1 billion (as of 31 March 2012).[67]

On 27 February 2013, the European Commission blocked the third attempt by Ryanair to take over Aer Lingus, stating that the merger would have damaged consumers' choice and resulted in increased fares.[68]

Virgin Atlantic wet-lease agreement edit

Further information: Virgin Atlantic Little Red

In December 2012, following the acquisition of British Midland International by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic was awarded slots to fly domestic routes in the UK from Heathrow Airport, ending the monopoly on these services that BA had held since its successful takeover. Aer Lingus supplied on a wet lease agreement four Airbus A320-214 aircraft (painted in Virgin's colours but under Irish registration[30]) as well as crew for these services, which operated from London Heathrow to Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Manchester. Services began on 31 March 2013 to Manchester.[69] This wet-lease agreement ended in September 2015, as Virgin Atlantic cancelled its domestic services.[70]

Long-haul expansion edit

In July 2013, expansion into North America was announced launching in 2014; including a direct service from Dublin to San Francisco five times weekly and a daily service from Dublin to Toronto to be operated by Air Contractors with Boeing 757s on behalf of the airline. It was also announced that transatlantic services from Shannon to Boston and New York would operate daily all year round from January 2014 to Boston and from March 2014 to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport; however, the airline would lease Boeing 757 aircraft from Air Contractors to operate these routes, rather than using its Airbus A330 aircraft as it had done before.[71] In addition, Aer Lingus service to Washington Dulles airport resumed 1 May 2015, with four flights weekly, and flights to Los Angeles, Newark, Miami, Philadelphia, and Seattle all started between 2015 and 2018.[72] Flights from Dublin to Minneapolis operated from 2019 until being suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic; they are scheduled to resume 29 April 2024.[73]

On 24 March 2021, Aer Lingus announced the launch of four new routes from Manchester Airport; New York John F Kennedy and Orlando from 29 July 2021, Barbados from 20 October 2021 and Boston from summer 2022.[74]

Change of CEO edit

On 18 July 2014, Aer Lingus said it had "been agreed" between the company and Mueller that he would step down as CEO and director in May 2015. Mueller left to join Malaysia Airlines as part of its restructuring exercise.[60] On 16 February 2015 the company announced that the new CEO and director would be Stephen Kavanagh, beginning 1 March 2015.[75] As of 1 January 2019, Sean Doyle became the new Aer Lingus CEO.[76] As of 6 April 2021 Lynne Embleton became the new Aer Lingus CEO.

IAG takeover (2014/2015) edit

On 14 December 2014, International Airlines Group (IAG), owner of British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, launched a €1 billion takeover-bid (€2.30 per-share) for Aer Lingus Group plc. The Aer Lingus Board rejected the offer on 16 December 2014, with Aer Lingus commenting that the offer was, "preliminary, highly conditional and non-binding". It was further noted: "The board has reviewed the proposal and believes that it fundamentally undervalues Aer Lingus and its attractive prospects. Accordingly, the proposal was rejected".[77]

On 9 January 2015, Aer Lingus rejected a second bid from IAG, proposing a €2.40 per-share takeover.[78] On 24 January 2015, IAG launched a third bid for Aer Lingus, proposing a €2.55 per-share takeover offer, totalling close to €1.4 billion.[79] On 27 January 2015, Aer Lingus's board announced that "the financial terms of IAG's third proposal for the airline are at a level it is willing to recommend", Aer Lingus said it noted, "IAG's intentions regarding the future of the company, in particular, that Aer Lingus would operate as a separate business with its own brand, management and operations".[80]

On 26 May 2015, the Irish Government agreed to the sale of its 25% shareholding to IAG, with a takeover now dependent on Ryanair's position on the matter.[8] On 10 July 2015, Ryanair voted to sell its nearly 30% stake in the airline. The takeover was later approved by the EU and US regulators subject to IAG giving up five slot pairs at London Gatwick Airport.[81] On 2 September 2015, IAG assumed control of Aer Lingus.[11] On 17 September 2015, following completion of the acquisition by IAG, the company's shares were withdrawn from the Irish Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.

2020s edit

See also: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation and Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism

On 25 February 2020, Aer Lingus noted it had been advised by the Department of Foreign Affairs that travel restrictions were being placed on several Italian towns within Italy's Lombardy region as a result of an outbreak of COVID-19 there,[82] however stated all flights would continue to operate,[82] further advising all flights operated would continue to comply with guidelines locally from the HSE as well as from the WHO and EASA.[82]

 
An Aer Lingus Airbus A330-300 in Beijing, China during late March 2020 retrieving PPE for Ireland's HSE.[83]

On 28 February, Aer Lingus had been informed that a passenger had travelled with COVID-19 on a service from Milan-Linate to Dublin[84] and that it was cooperating fully with the HSE and Department for Foreign Affairs.[82] Four Aer Lingus cabin crew were also placed into self-isolation from the flight in question.[84] The following day, Aer Lingus announced flight suspensions to Northern Italy,[85] subsequently extending this on 10 March to all services to Italy.[86]

On 13 March, Donald Trump, then President of the United States, announced a European travel ban which initially exempted Ireland,[87] however this was extended to cover Ireland the following day.[88] Aer Lingus subsequently announced network-wide reductions[89] which eventually saw its network of flights reduced by 95%,[90] the airlines plan for its biggest summer schedule within its history was scuppered as a result of what became a global pandemic.[91] In a temporary measure, the airline confirmed it was cutting hours and salaries for all employees by 50%.[92]

Later that month on 29 March, Aer Lingus flight EI9019 from Beijing, China touched down at Dublin Airport carrying vital PPE for Ireland's health service workers, it marked the start of hundreds of flights the carrier was expected to operate to/from China on request of the Government.[93]

With just 5% of scheduled flights operating, it was announced on 1 May 2020 that Aer Lingus was seeking 900 job cuts.[94] The airline subsequently entered into talks with trade unions about changes to work practices and proposed job cuts,[95] Aer Lingus CEO Sean Doyle commented that it would take years for the aviation industry to recover.[95] Aer Lingus later confirmed it was seeking further temporary pay cuts and changes to work practices in a cost saving exercise,[96] advising that its 2021 schedule would be at least 20% lower than planned.[96] Job cuts were confirmed later that month, those holding temporary contracts were made redundant[97] and cabin crew based in Shannon were informed that they would be temporarily laid off as the airline was not operating services from there.[98]

On 13 June, media reporting indicated broad acceptance of proposed measures based on a final draft document between Aer Lingus and Trade Unions,[99] however the following day the union Fórsa representing over 1,400 Aer Lingus cabin crew advised of its intention to ballot members.[100] The airline stated on 15 June, that if acceptance was not agreed by 6pm that evening, it would withdraw its offer and implement them unilaterally with a 70% cut to employees' wages excluding pilots.[101] As the deadline passed the airline initiated the action to implement the changes angering Trade Unions representing the majority of Aer Lingus employees.[101] On 17 June, the airline agreed to allow a ballot for up to two weeks for its pilots for changes to work practices and recovery of salaries.[102]

In June 2021, the airline said it wanted to freeze workers' pay for five years while it is proposing sharp cuts in rates paid to new cabin and crew staff.[103]

Corporate affairs edit

Ownership and structure edit

Aer Lingus was listed on the Irish and London Stock Exchanges, under ticker EIL1 on the Irish Stock Exchange and ticker AERL on the London Stock Exchange.[104] However it was delisted on 17 September 2015 following its majority acquisition by IAG. Shareholdings (as of 2 September 2015) are:[11]

Shareholder Shares Interest
International Airlines Group 98.05%
Other investors 1.95%
Total 534,040,090 100.00%

Aer Lingus Cargo edit

Aer Lingus Cargo is the airline's cargo division. It uses reserved areas of passenger aircraft cargo-holds. Aer Lingus Cargo is available on all routes to the US from Dublin and Shannon. Cargo services are also offered on most European routes and some routes to the UK, the division subsequently rebranded as IAG Cargo.[105]

Aer Lingus Regional edit

Main article: Aer Lingus Regional

Aer Lingus Regional flights have been operated by Emerald Airlines on a franchise basis since 17 March 2022.[106]

Aer Lingus had a franchise agreement with Irish regional airline Stobart Air (formerly Aer Arann), under which Stobart Air operated several routes under the Aer Lingus Regional brand, livery and flight code.[107] Stobart Air had not operated any flights under its own RE code since April 2012, and all its routes were transferred to Aer Lingus with flight numbers in the EI3XXX range.[citation needed] Stobart Air was placed into liquidation in June 2021; Aer Lingus and BA CityFlyer stepped in to operate the routes on a temporary basis.[108]

Business trends edit

Key trends for Aer Lingus are (as at year ending 31 December):[109]

Business indicators from 2015
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Total revenue (€m) 1,718 1,766 1,859 2,020 2,125 467 366 1,667
Net profit (€m) 118 205 234 258 225 −502 −338 −23.0
Number of employees (average FTE) 2,753 2,711 2,662 2,658 2,646 1,609 2,472 2,283
Number of passengers (m) 10.1 10.4 10.9 11.3 11.6 2.1 2.0 9.0
Passenger load factor (%) 81.6 81.6 81.2 80.9 81.8 46.4 48.0 77.0
Number of aircraft (at year end) 49 51 53 56 58 56 57 56
Sources [110] [111] [112] [113] [114] [115] [116] [117]
Business indicators 2007-2014
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Total revenue (€m) 1,284 1,357 1,205 1,215 1,288 1,393 1,425 1,557
Net profit (€m) 105 −107 −130 43.0 71.2 33.9 34.1 −95.8
Number of employees (average FTE) 3,905 4,035 3,844 3,516 3,491 3,566 3,615 3,766
Number of passengers (m) 9.3 10.0 10.4 9.3 9.5 9.7 9.6 9.8
Passenger load factor (%) 75.4 72.8 74.5 76.1 75.6 77.7 78.4 79.0
Number of aircraft (at year end) 41 42 44 44 43 44 47 50
Sources [118] [119] [120] [121] [122][123] [124][125] [126] [127]

Business model edit

Aer Lingus adopted a "small frills" strategic approach – a hybrid between a traditional legacy airline and a low-cost carrier.[128] The difference lies in the services offered on short-haul and long-haul flights with meals offered free on the latter only.

The new strategy required considerable negotiation with the unions, and a consensus was reached that lower costs and a reinvention of the airline were necessary for its survival. The union concessions that arose from the negotiations were detrimental to the airline's image however; by 2003 the wage freeze had been lifted and there were 3,800 voluntary redundancies with no forced layoffs. These factors contributed to the airline's reported profits in 2002, 2003 and 2005, with only a small loss recorded in 2004.[128]

Head office edit

 
Aer Lingus's head office
 
An Airbus A320 in the retro livery at Toulouse–Blagnac Airport in 2011 before delivery to the airline.
 
Self-check-in machines of Aer Lingus at Dublin Airport.

The Aer Lingus head office is located on the grounds of Dublin Airport in Fingal, County Dublin.[129] Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) renovated an existing building to create Aer Lingus's headquarters.[130]

The HOB Site,[131] the 9.9-acre (4.0 ha) former head office site includes the former head office building, the services annexe, the Iolar House,[132] the Mock-Up Building, the ALSAA swimming pool, and various smaller structures and buildings.[131] The Head Office Building housed the corporate head office of Aer Lingus and its subsidiaries, and many administrative functions, employees, and car parking spaces, were located in this building. The Iolar House and Mock-Up Building housed training facilities for Aer Lingus crew and office space.[131] This former head office is proximate to the former Ryanair head office. Brian Lavery of The New York Times said in 2004 that the proximity, described by Lavery as "a few parking lots away," was "a symbol of just how close the competition is to home."[133] In 2010, Aer Lingus announced that it surrendered the lease on its head office building to the Dublin Airport Authority and that it would move its employees to Hangar 6 and other buildings in the airline's property portfolio during the year of 2011. The airline said that its head office building, which was stated by the International Business Times to require refurbishing, was too large for the company's needs following the "Greenfield" cost reduction programme.[132] On 8 November 2011 Aer Lingus signed the contract with the Dublin Airport Authority for the surrender of the leasehold interest in the HOB Site. Aer Lingus would pay €22.15 million and interest to the DAA, with €10.55 million being paid over ten years in annual payments, with each being equal size. The payments will involve a 5% interest rate per annum.[131] The former HOB Site was redeveloped into Dublin Airport Central, with the Dublin Airport Authority planning to spend €10 million. The former head office became One, Dublin Airport Central.[134]

Employee relations edit

On 30 May 2014, Aer Lingus cabin crew staged a 24-hour strike resulting in the cancellation of around 200 flights and the disruption of travel plans by up to 200,000 people. The workers were seeking changes to their rosters, which the airline said that if implemented would mean the loss of 300 jobs in Ireland, which would have to be relocated to North America.[135]

Sponsorships edit

Aer Lingus sponsored the Irish Times International Fiction Prize from 1989 to 1992, when it was also known as the Irish Times/Aer Lingus International Fiction Prize.[136]

On 30 April 2015, it was announced that Aer Lingus would become the official airline of the Irish Rugby Team. On the same day, it was announced that one aircraft was to be renamed "Green Spirit" and wear a special livery for the Irish Rugby Team. Another aircraft would also be painted in the same livery.[137]

Destinations and hubs edit

Main article: List of Aer Lingus destinations

As of January 2023, Aer Lingus flies to 93 destinations throughout Asia, Europe and North America; including destinations in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In October 2022, it was announced that Aer Lingus operations between Belfast City and London Heathrow would transfer to Aer Lingus UK due to Brexit-related requirements that a European carrier could no longer fly domestic routes within the United Kingdom. These flights were operated by British Airways under wet-lease terms using the Aer Lingus UK flight numbers and callsigns.[138]

Hubs edit

Aer Lingus currently has six hubs:

  • Dublin - Aer Lingus uses Dublin as its primary hub for almost all transatlantic and international flights, servicing many European, American, African, Asian, South American and a majority of their UK based routes . Dublin serves as the airline’s primary maintenance base.
  • Cork - Despite a cut back in operations in recent years, Cork is still an important base for Aer Lingus. There are 3 aircraft based at the airport operating 10 services to the UK, and Europe.
  • Shannon - In smaller operation Aer Lingus services Shannon as a secondary hub for onward connections onto transatlantic flights. Aer Lingus operate short-haul flights to London-Heathrow and Paris-Charles de Gaulle which they use to feed their daily transatlantic flights to and from Boston and New York-JFK.
  • Belfast - The service provided from Belfast are primarily within the UK but some international European flights operate into Belfast. After Brexit, Aer Lingus moved to provide more UK service out of Belfast than Dublin as travel laws affected the operations.

Codeshare agreements edit

Aer Lingus has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[139]

Fleet edit

Aer Lingus aircraft are named after Christian saints from Ireland.[142]

Current fleet edit

 
Aer Lingus Airbus A320-200
 
Aer Lingus Airbus A320neo
 
Aer Lingus Airbus A321LR
 
Aer Lingus Airbus A330-300

As of December 2022, Aer Lingus (excluding its subsidiaries Aer Lingus Regional and Aer Lingus UK) operates an all-Airbus fleet, composed of the following aircraft:[143][144]

Aer Lingus fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers[145] Notes
C Y Total
Airbus A320-200 29 — — 174 174
Airbus A320neo 4 4[146] — 186 186
Airbus A321LR 8 — 16 168 184
Airbus A321XLR — 6[147][148] TBA Delivery scheduled from 2024.[149] Launch operator.[150]
Airbus A330-200 3 — 23 243 266
248 271
258 281
Airbus A330-300 10 — 30 283 313
287 317
Total 54 10

Fleet development edit

In January 2017, Aer Lingus announced its intention to finalise an order for eight A321LR twinjets to develop thinner transatlantic routes which cannot be operated profitably and fuel efficiently using A330s. As of November 2018, the airline has orders for fourteen A321LRs.[151]

At the 2019 Paris Air Show, IAG agreed to purchase 14 Airbus A321XLR aircraft, 8 for delivery to Iberia and 6 to Aer Lingus, with options for a further 14 of the aircraft.[152] The first aircraft will be delivered in 2023 and replace their Boeing 757-200s. In April 2020, Aer Lingus terminated their contract with the Irish airline CityJet which operated 2 BAE Avro RJ85's on behalf of the airline. The aircraft were primarily used for the Dublin to London-City route.

Historical fleet edit

 
An Aer Lingus BAC One-Eleven in 1982
 
An Aer Lingus Boeing 747-100 in 1980
 
Aer Lingus Boeing 737s in 1993
Aer Lingus historical fleet
Aircraft Introduced Retired Notes
Transatlantic fleet
Boeing 707-320 1964 1986
Boeing 720 1960 1971
Boeing 747-100 1970 1995
Boeing 757-200 2014 2020 Leased From ASL Airlines Ireland
Boeing 767-200ER 2016 2016 Leased from Omni Air International
Boeing 767-300ER 1991 1994
Douglas DC-8-63F 1990 1990 Leased from Arrow Air
Douglas DC-8-73PF 1990 1990 Leased from Aer Turas
Lockheed L-749 Constellation 1948 Un­known
Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation 1958 1960
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1989 1997 Leased from American Trans Air, Caledonian Airways
McDonnell Douglas MD-11 1998 1998 Leased from World Airways
2001 2001
European and commuter fleet
Airbus A319-100 2011 2016
Airbus A321-200 1998 2022
Airspeed Consul 1948 1950
ATR 42-600 2003 2020
Aviation Traders Carvair 1963 1968
BAC One-Eleven 1965 1990
British Aerospace BAe 146-300 1995 2006
Boeing 737-200 1969 1992 Leased from All Nippon Airways
Boeing 737-300 1987 1993
Boeing 737-400 1989 2005
Boeing 737-500 1990 2005
Bristol 170 Freighter 1952 Un­known
de Havilland DH.84 Dragon 1936 1938
de Havilland DH.86 Express 1936 1946
de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide 1938 1940
Douglas DC-3 1940 1964
Fokker F27 1958 1966
Fokker 50 1989 2001
Lockheed Super Electra 1939 1940
Saab 340B 1991 1995
Short 330 1983 Un­known
Short 360 1984 1991
Vickers Viking 1947 Un­known
Vickers Viscount 700 1954 1960
Vickers Viscount 800 1957 1973

Livery edit

On 17 January 2019, Aer Lingus unveiled a new brand and livery. The refreshed brand includes a new typeface, refreshed shamrock and a new colour scheme. The new livery consists of a white fuselage and teal engines and tail. All Aer Lingus aircraft were expected to receive the new livery by the end of 2021, although some aircraft with the older livery are still in service as of 2023.[153]

Services edit

In-flight services edit

From 2015 to 2016, Aer Lingus sold pre-packaged Tayto sandwiches on board some of their flights.[154][155] In 2018, the company announced that it would offer a complimentary glass of wine or beer on transatlantic flights.[156] That year the company also announced plans to offer free wifi to Smart Fare transatlantic economy customers.[157] In 2019, Aer Lingus introduced AerSpace, its premium economy class.[158]

Frequent-flyer programme edit

AerClub is Aer Lingus' frequent-flyer programme. It launched in November 2016, taking over from the airline's previous programme, Gold Circle. AerClub consists of four tiers: the entry-level Green, Silver, Platinum, and Concierge.[159] The club uses Avios points as its member currency.

Accidents and incidents edit

 
A memorial at the site of the January 1952 crash.

Aer Lingus has a good[clarification needed] safety record, with no crash fatalities in over 55 years.[citation needed] It has had 12 incidents, including six accidents which left aircraft written-off (of which three were fatal) and one hijacking.

  • On 10 January 1952, a Douglas DC-3 registered EI-AFL and named "St. Kevin" was en route from Northolt to Dublin. It flew into a mountain wave triggered by Snowdon and an area of extreme turbulence, then crashed in a peat bog near Llyn Gwynant in Snowdonia, killing all 20 passengers and 3 crew. It was the company's first fatal accident.[160]
  • On 1 January 1953, a Douglas DC-3 registered EI-ACF and named "St Kieran" made a forced landing near the town of Spernall, England. Both engines failed after running out of fuel while en route from Dublin to Birmingham. All of the 25 passengers and crew survived. The aircraft was later written off.[161]
  • On 22 June 1967, a Vickers Viscount registered EI-AOF on a pilot-training flight stalled and spun into the ground near Ashbourne, killing all three crew.[162]
  • On 21 September 1967, Vickers Viscount EI-AKK flying from Dublin to Bristol scraped its wing on the runway and crashed on landing at the destination airport. All of the passengers and crew survived. The aircraft was later written off.[163]
  • On 24 March 1968, a Vickers Viscount (registration: EI-AOM, named "St. Phelim") en route from Cork to London crashed near Tuskar Rock in the waters off the southeast coast of Ireland. All 57 passengers and 4 crew perished. The crash is generally known as the Tuskar Rock Air Disaster in Ireland. Part of the aircraft's elevator spring tab was found some distance from the rest of the wreckage, suggesting that it had become detached at an earlier stage. However, the accident report reached no definitive conclusion about the cause of the crash but did not exclude the possibility that another aircraft or airborne object was involved. Following persistent rumours that the aircraft's demise was linked with nearby British military exercises, a review of the case files by the Air Accident Investigation Unit took place in 1998. This review identified several maintenance and record-keeping failures and concluded that the original report failed to adequately examine alternative hypotheses not involving other aircraft.[164] A subsequent investigation[165] concluded that the accident happened following a structural failure of the port tailplane, and ruled out the possibility that another aircraft was involved.[citation needed]
  • On 2 May 1981, Aer Lingus Flight 164 from Dublin to London was hijacked and diverted to Le Touquet – Côte d'Opale Airport in France. While authorities negotiated with the hijacker by radio in the cockpit, French special forces entered the rear of the aircraft and overpowered him. None of the passengers or crew were injured during the hijacking. The official record shows the reason as One hijacker demanded to be taken to Iran. Plane stormed/hijacker arrested. Duration of the hijacking: less than 1 day.[166] while various media reports indicated that the man, Laurence Downey (a former Trappist monk), demanded that the Pope release the third secret of Fátima.[167][168]
  • On 31 January 1986, Aer Lingus Flight 328, a Short 360 registration EI-BEM on a flight from Dublin to East Midlands Airport, struck power lines and crashed short of the runway. There were no fatalities but two passengers were injured in the accident.[169]
  • On 9 June 2005, Aer Lingus Flight 132, an Airbus A330 registration EI-ORD, nearly collided with US Airways Flight 1170 at Logan International Airport in Boston, after both flights were given nearly simultaneous clearances for takeoff on intersecting runways. The US Airways flight kept its nose down on the runway for an extended amount of time to go underneath the Aer Lingus flight and avoided a collision. There were no fatalities.

In Winter months run less flights but no flights at all on Christmas Day to prevent travel in short days and long nights.

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ According to the spelling and grammar rules of Modern Irish, the compound noun aerloingeas and the two-word term loingeas aeir (with aer in the genitive case qualifying loingeas) are the only two possible renderings into Irish of 'Aer Lingus'. The two-word term aer loingeas (with both nouns in the nominative case) is not possible according to these rules.

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External links edit

  • Official website

January 01, 1970
lingus, ɛər, ling, gəs, anglicisation, irish, aerloingeas, ˌeːɾˠˈl, ˠɪɲɟəsˠ, meaning, fleet, flag, carrier, ireland, founded, irish, government, privatised, between, 2006, 2015, wholly, owned, subsidiary, international, airlines, group, airline, head, office, . Aer Lingus ˌ ɛer ˈ l ɪ ŋ ɡ e s air LING ges an anglicisation of the Irish aerloingeas ˌeːɾˠˈl ˠɪɲɟesˠ meaning air fleet a is the flag carrier of Ireland Founded by the Irish Government it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of International Airlines Group IAG The airline s head office is on the grounds of Dublin Airport in Cloghran County Dublin citation needed Aer LingusIATA ICAO Callsign EI EIN SHAMROCKFounded15 April 1936 88 years ago 1936 04 15 Commenced operations28 May 1936 87 years ago 1936 05 28 HubsDublin AirportFocus citiesCork Airport 1 Frequent flyer programAerClubAvios 2 SubsidiariesAer Lingus RegionalAer Lingus UKFleet size74 Including all the Subsidiaries Destinations93Parent companyInternational Airlines GroupHeadquartersCloghran County Dublin IrelandKey peopleLynne Embleton CEO Revenue 467 million 2020 3 Operating income 305 million 2018 Net income 205 5 million 2016 Employees4 500 approx 2020 Websitewww wbr aerlingus wbr com Formed in 1936 Aer Lingus is a former member of the Oneworld airline alliance which it left on 31 March 2007 After the takeover by IAG it was expected that Aer Lingus would re enter Oneworld however at a press briefing on 15 November 2017 the airline s then CEO Stephen Kavanagh stated that the airline has no plans to join Oneworld 4 The airline has codeshares with Oneworld Star Alliance and SkyTeam members as well as interline agreements with Etihad Airways JetBlue Airways and United Airlines Aer Lingus has a hybrid business model of low cost and traditional carriers 5 operating a mixed fare service 6 on its European routes and full service two class flights on transatlantic routes Ryanair owned over 29 of Aer Lingus stock and the Irish state owned over 25 before being bought out by IAG in 2015 The state had previously held an 85 shareholding until the Government s decision to float the company on the Dublin and London stock exchanges on 2 October 2006 The principal group companies include Aer Lingus Limited Aer Lingus Beachey Limited Aer Lingus Ireland Limited and Dirnan Insurance Company Limited all of which are wholly owned 7 On 26 May 2015 after months of negotiations on a possible IAG takeover the Irish government agreed to sell its 25 stake in the company Ryanair retained a 30 stake in Aer Lingus which it agreed to sell to IAG on 10 July 2015 for 2 55 per share 8 9 In August 2015 Aer Lingus shareholders officially accepted IAG s takeover offer 10 IAG subsequently assumed control of Aer Lingus on 2 September 2015 11 Contents 1 History 1 1 Early years 1 2 Post war expansion 1 3 First transatlantic service 1 4 Jet aircraft 1 5 1970s to 1990s 1 6 2000s to 2010s 1 6 1 Flotation 1 6 2 First Ryanair takeover bid 2006 1 6 3 Cross border expansion 1 6 4 Open Skies 1 6 5 Effect of 2008 recession 1 6 6 Second Ryanair takeover bid 2008 2009 1 6 7 Gatwick base 1 6 8 Appointment of Christoph Mueller as CEO 1 6 9 75th anniversary 1 6 10 Third Ryanair takeover bid 2012 1 6 11 Virgin Atlantic wet lease agreement 1 6 12 Long haul expansion 1 6 13 Change of CEO 1 6 14 IAG takeover 2014 2015 1 7 2020s 2 Corporate affairs 2 1 Ownership and structure 2 1 1 Aer Lingus Cargo 2 1 2 Aer Lingus Regional 2 2 Business trends 2 3 Business model 2 4 Head office 2 5 Employee relations 2 6 Sponsorships 3 Destinations and hubs 3 1 Hubs 3 2 Codeshare agreements 4 Fleet 4 1 Current fleet 4 2 Fleet development 4 3 Historical fleet 4 4 Livery 5 Services 5 1 In flight services 5 2 Frequent flyer programme 6 Accidents and incidents 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 External linksHistory editEarly years edit Aer Lingus was founded on 15 April 1936 with a capital of 100 000 Its first chairman was Sean o hUadhaigh 12 Pending legislation for Government investment through a parent company Aer Lingus was associated with Blackpool and West Coast Air Services which advanced the money for the first aircraft and operated with Aer Lingus under the common title Irish Sea Airways 13 14 Aer Lingus Teoranta was registered as an airline on 22 May 1936 15 The name Aer Lingus was proposed by Richard F O Connor who was County Cork Surveyor as well as an aviation enthusiast nbsp A DH 84 Dragon repainted in the livery of Aer Lingus original aircraft Iolar On 27 May 1936 five days after being registered as an airline its first service began between Baldonnel Airfield in Clondalkin Dublin and Bristol Whitchurch Airport the United Kingdom using a six seater de Havilland DH 84 Dragon biplane registration EI ABI named Iolar Eagle Later that year the airline acquired its second aircraft a four engined biplane de Havilland DH 86 Express named Eire with a capacity of 14 passengers 14 This aircraft provided the first air link between Dublin and London by extending the Bristol service to Croydon At the same time the DH 84 Dragon was used to inaugurate an Aer Lingus service on the Dublin Liverpool route The airline was established as the national carrier under the Air Navigation and Transport Act 1936 15 In 1937 the Irish government created Aer Rianta now called Dublin Airport Authority a company to assume financial responsibility for the new airline and the entire country s civil aviation infrastructure In April 1937 Aer Lingus became wholly owned by the Irish government via Aer Rianta The airline s first General Manager was Dr J F Jeremiah known as Jerry Dempsey a chartered accountant who joined the company on secondment from Kennedy Crowley amp Co predecessor to KPMG citation needed as Company Secretary in 1936 aged 30 and was appointed to the role of General Manager in 1937 He retired 30 years later in 1967 at the age of 60 In 1938 a de Havilland DH 89 Dragon Rapide replaced Iolar and the company purchased a second DH 86B Two Lockheed 14s arrived in 1939 Aer Lingus first all metal aircraft nbsp An Aer Lingus Douglas DC 3 at Manchester Airport in 1948 wearing the first postwar livery In January 1940 a new airport opened in the Dublin suburb of Collinstown and Aer Lingus moved its operations there It purchased a new DC 3 and inaugurated new services to Liverpool and an internal service to Shannon The airline s services were curtailed during World War II with the sole route being to Liverpool or Barton Aerodrome Manchester depending on the fluctuating security situation Post war expansion edit On 9 November 1945 regular services were resumed with an inaugural flight to London From this point Aer Lingus aircraft initially mostly Douglas DC 3s were painted in a silver and green livery The airline introduced its first flight attendants In 1946 a new Anglo Irish agreement gave Aer Lingus exclusive UK traffic rights from Ireland in exchange for a 40 holding by British Overseas Airways Corporation BOAC and British European Airways BEA Because of Aer Lingus growth the airline bought seven new Vickers Viking aircraft in 1947 however these proved to be uneconomical and were soon sold nbsp A Bristol 170 Freighter at Manchester Airport in 1953 In 1947 Aerlinte Eireann came into existence to operate transatlantic flights to New York City from Ireland The airline ordered five new Lockheed L 749 Constellations but a change of government and a financial crisis prevented the service from starting John A Costello the incoming Fine Gael Taoiseach Prime Minister was not a keen supporter of air travel and thought that flying the Atlantic was too grandiose a scheme for a small airline from a small country like Ireland 16 nbsp A Vickers Viscount 808 in green top livery at Manchester Airport in 1963 During the late 1940s and early 1950s Aer Lingus introduced routes to Brussels Amsterdam via Manchester and to Rome Because of the expanding route structure the airline became one of the early purchasers of Vickers Viscount 700s in 1951 which were placed in service in April 1954 In 1952 the airline expanded its all freight services and acquired a small fleet of Bristol 170 Freighters which remained in service until 1957 Prof Patrick Lynch was appointed the chairman of Aer Lingus and Aer Rianta in 1954 17 18 and served in the position until 1975 19 In 1956 Aer Lingus introduced a new green top livery with a white lightning flash down the windows and the Irish flag displayed on the fin First transatlantic service edit nbsp A Boeing 720 in Aer Lingus Irish International livery in 1965 On 28 April 1958 Aerlinte Eireann operated its first transatlantic service from Shannon to New York 20 21 In 1960 Aerlinte Eireann was renamed Aer Lingus 21 Aer Lingus bought seven Fokker F27 Friendships which were delivered between November 1958 and May 1959 These were used in short haul services to the UK gradually replacing the Dakotas until Aer Lingus replaced them in 1966 with secondhand Viscount 800s 22 The airline entered the jet age on 14 December 1960 when it received three Boeing 720 for use on the New York route and the newest Aer Lingus destination Boston In 1963 Aer Lingus added Aviation Traders Carvairs to the fleet These aircraft could transport five cars which were loaded into the fuselage through the nose of the aircraft The Carvair proved to be uneconomical for the airline partly due to the rise of auto ferry services and the aircraft were used for freight services until disposed of The Boeing 720s proved to be a success for the airline on the transatlantic routes To supplement these Aer Lingus took delivery of its first larger Boeing 707 in 1964 and the type continued to serve the airline until 1986 Jet aircraft edit nbsp A Fokker F27 Friendship at Manchester Airport in 1965 The F27 was used on short haul services between 1958 and 1966 Conversion of the European fleet to jet equipment began in 1965 when the BAC One Eleven started services on continental Europe 22 The airline adopted a new livery in the same year with a large green shamrock on the fin 23 In 1966 the remainder of the company s shares held by Aer Rianta were transferred to the Minister for Finance nbsp An Aviation Traders Carvair that was used as a vehicle freighter is seen loading a car at Bristol Airport in 1964 In 1966 the company added routes to Montreal and Chicago 22 In 1968 flights from Belfast in Northern Ireland to New York City started however it was soon suspended due to the beginning of the Troubles 24 Aer Lingus introduced Boeing 737s to its fleet in 1969 to cope with the high demand for flights between Dublin and London 24 Later Aer Lingus extended the 737 flights to all of its European networks 24 In 1967 after 30 years of service General Manager Dr J F Dempsey signed the contract for the airline s first two Boeing 747 aircraft before he retired later that year 1970s to 1990s edit nbsp A BAC One Eleven in the old livery at Zurich Airport Switzerland in 1975 On 6 March 1971 Aer Lingus took delivery of the first of two Boeing 747s for use on the transatlantic routes 25 26 The company later purchased a third for its fleet but quickly offered it for lease because it was not initially profitable for the company to fly 747s across the Atlantic In 1974 Aer Lingus unveiled a new livery which eliminated the word International and or Irish from the fuselage titles The livery included two colours of blue and one green plus the white shamrock on the fin In 1977 Aer Lingus recruited its first female pilot Grainne Cronin the airline was the second in Europe after SAS to introduce female pilots 27 In September 1979 Aer Lingus became the first European airline other than Alitalia to be used by Pope John Paul II when he flew aboard a specially modified Boeing 747 EI ASI or St Patrick from Rome to Dublin and later from Shannon to Boston In the early 1980s the 707s were phased out nbsp An Aer Lingus Commuter Saab 340 at Dublin Airport in 1993 In 1984 the airline formed a fully owned subsidiary Aer Lingus Commuter so that Aer Lingus could fly to larger cities in Ireland and Britain whose flying time from Dublin did not require jet aircraft These services employed five of the Belfast built Short 360 after conducting a trial with the Short 330 Around this time Aer Lingus purchased a majority shareholding in the cargo airline Aer Turas owner of some DC 8 freighter jets Between 1987 and 1989 new Boeing 737s arrived to replace the older ones and six Fokker 50s were added to the Commuter fleet During 1990 after the passage of the deregulation act for the airline industry in Ireland Aer Lingus reconsidered its operational policies It retired the BAC One Elevens and replaced them with five new 737s In 1991 four Saab 340Bs arrived at the commuter division to replace the Short 360 aircraft By 1992 Aer Lingus s entire original 737 200 fleet had been replaced and it was now the first carrier in the world operating all three versions of the second generation 737 These were the 300 400 and 500 series although the 300 did not stay long in Aer Lingus service nbsp An Airbus A321 landing at London Heathrow Airport in 2007 In 1994 Aer Lingus started direct services between Dublin and the United States using the Airbus A330 and in May of that year Aer Lingus operated the first A330 300 ETOPS service over the North Atlantic This led to the phasing out of the Boeing 747 and the briefly operated Boeing 767 300ER On 2 October 1995 the Boeing 747 service ceased operations after twenty five years of service By that time over eight million people had travelled across the Atlantic in Aer Lingus Boeing 747s The late 1990s saw Aer Lingus return to Belfast with service to New York via Shannon It also added Newark Liberty International Airport as a destination but discontinued these flights in 2001 The first Airbus short haul aircraft arrived in 1998 in the form of the A321 initially to mainly operate the Dublin Heathrow route Six were delivered in 1998 and 1999 and three of these continue in service today The first A320 was delivered in 2000 with three more added to the fleet by 2001 2000s to 2010s edit On 1 February 2001 Aer Lingus Commuter merged back into the mainline operation The business was severely affected by the 9 11 attacks in the United States In response the airline cut staff numbers and destinations and reduced its fleet As a result it weathered the storm and returned to profit largely through lowering the airline s cost base updating the fleet with modern Airbus equipment and developing new routes to mainland European destinations Aer Lingus had previously largely neglected mainland Europe in favour of US and British destinations It positioned itself as competition to the European no frills airlines while offering intercontinental flights phased out Business class travel for short haul flights but retained cargo services on a small number of routes A large order for A320 aircraft saw deliveries commencing in 2004 and continuing to 2011 The delivery of these aircraft allowed the withdrawal of the Boeing 737 On 29 October 2005 Aer Lingus withdrew its last two 737 aircraft from service marking the end of Boeing aircraft at Aer Lingus and the beginning of an all Airbus fleet On 27 October 2005 Aer Lingus announced its first scheduled service to Asia from March 2006 as Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates where Chief Executive Dermot Mannion was based when at Emirates 28 Despite the Aer Lingus press release describing it as the first long haul service outside the United States there had in fact been a previous service to Montreal from 1966 to 1979 The great circle distance of 5 926 kilometres 3 682 mi is comparable to the service to Chicago At the same time Mannion linked the funding of new long haul aircraft to replace the A330 fleet with the privatisation of the airline 29 The Dubai service ceased in March 2008 as the airline sought to increase its market share in the newly liberalised transatlantic market On 6 June 2007 Aer Lingus strengthened its relationship with the European manufacturer by ordering six of the new A350 900 and six A330 300 These were used to expand long haul operations as well as replace three older models Deliveries of the A330 began in February 2009 In 2011 Aer Lingus switched their remaining three A330 orders to A350 900s with delivery no sooner than 2017 The A350 orders were subsequently assumed by IAG in 2015 30 31 Flotation edit nbsp The Aer Lingus logo painted on an Airbus A330 winglet In preparation for the commercial flotation of Aer Lingus on the Dublin stock market the Irish government agreed to abolish the Shannon Stopover from the end of 2006 in stages The company began conditional or grey market share dealings on 27 September 2006 and was formally admitted to the Official Lists of the Irish Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange on 2 October 2006 At the time of the flotation the Irish government maintained a 28 shareholding while employees held 15 The stock IPO offer price was 2 20 32 33 Aer Lingus withdrew from the Oneworld airline alliance on 31 March 2007 instead entering into bilateral agreements with airlines including British Airways Virgin Atlantic Delta Air Lines KLM and United Airlines Aer Lingus explained the move stating the carrier was repositioning as a low cost carrier which did not fit with Oneworld s pitch to the premium international frequent flyer On 6 February 2007 however the airline announced its intention to form a new alliance with JetBlue This new alliance was to act as a weblink between the two airlines enabling Aer Lingus customers to book JetBlue destinations from the Aer Lingus website In 2008 it also announced an alliance with United Airlines for connecting services within the US With the flotation of Aer Lingus on the stock exchange Aer Lingus had planned to expand its route network but this was put on hold due to the economic situation First Ryanair takeover bid 2006 edit On 5 October 2006 Ryanair launched a bid to buy Aer Lingus Ryanair CEO Michael O Leary said the move was a unique opportunity to form an Irish airline The new airline would carry over 50 million passengers a year Ryanair said it had bought a 16 stake in Aer Lingus and was offering 2 80 for the remaining shares a premium over the 2 20 the shares were trading for The firm was trading at 1 13bn but Ryanair s offer valued it at 1 48bn 34 On the same day Aer Lingus rejected Ryanair s takeover bid 35 On 5 October 2006 Ryanair confirmed it had raised its stake to 19 2 and said it had no problem in the Irish Government keeping its 28 3 The Irish Times reported that the Government would possibly seek judgement from the courts and referral to competition authorities in Dublin although this would be automatic under European regulation as the combined group would control 78 of the Dublin London passenger air traffic 36 On 29 November 2006 Ryanair confirmed it had taken its stake to 26 2 37 On 21 December 2006 Ryanair announced it was withdrawing its bid for Aer Lingus with the intent of pursuing another bid soon after the European Commission finishes investigating the bid The EC has been concerned that the takeover would reduce consumer choice and increase fares 38 On 27 June 2007 the European Commission announced its decision to block the bid on competition grounds saying the two airlines controlled more than 80 of all European flights to and from Dublin Airport 39 Cross border expansion edit On 7 August 2007 the airline announced that it would establish its first base outside the Republic of Ireland at Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland Services from Belfast International commenced in December 2007 As of July 2008 update the airline had three Airbus A320 aircraft based at the airport serving eleven European destinations Significantly this move restored the Belfast International to London Heathrow Airport link and Aer Lingus cooperated with its codeshare partner British Airways on this route to connect with BA s network at Heathrow To do so the airline discontinued its Shannon Heathrow service a move that generated political controversy in the west of Ireland particularly as the Shannon London route was still profitable The airline predicted that this move would add one million additional passengers annually 40 41 The Shannon to Heathrow service has since been reinstated After five years at Belfast International Airport Aer Lingus announced on 19 July 2012 that it would be moving its operations to George Best Belfast City Airport The airline transferred its Belfast London Heathrow flights to there and also announced the operation of a thrice daily London Gatwick service no longer operated and on 31 March 2013 launched services to Faro and Malaga Aer Lingus based 2 aircraft in Belfast City Airport for the Winter 2012 2013 season and a third aircraft arrived for the Summer 2013 season Open Skies edit On 22 March 2007 as a result of the EU US Open Skies Agreement Aer Lingus announced three new long haul services to the United States From Autumn 2007 Aer Lingus commenced direct flights to Orlando San Francisco and Washington D C Dulles facilitated by the arrival of two new Airbus A330 aircraft in May 2007 The airline also serves Boston Logan International Airport Chicago O Hare International Airport and New York JFK Airport Aer Lingus ended its Middle Eastern Route to Dubai in March 2008 and ended its Los Angeles route in November 2008 The Washington D C and the San Francisco routes were discontinued as of 24 October 2009 update Services from Washington D C resumed on 28 March 2010 when the airline began flights from Washington D C to Madrid Spain in a joint venture with United Airlines The airline terminated this route on 30 October 2012 42 Service to San Francisco resumed on 2 April 2014 Dublin Washington Dulles service began in May 2015 The Dublin Los Angeles route was reintroduced on 4 May 2016 Other US destinations include Hartford introduced on 28 September 2016 Seattle introduced on 18 May 2018 Minneapolis St Paul introduced on 1 July 2019 Effect of 2008 recession edit After reporting losses of 22 million for the first half of the year in October 2008 Aer Lingus announced a 74 million cost saving plan 43 This plan included cutting up to 1 500 jobs scaled back ground operations at Cork airport and outsourced all ground staff at Dublin airport 43 This met with a largely negative response particularly from trade unions 44 In December 2008 Aer Lingus announced that the Shannon Heathrow service would resume from 29 March 2009 following new arrangements with the trade unions on staff costs and the Shannon Airport Authority on airport charges 45 However at the end of June 2009 the company had accumulated losses of 93 million and Chairman Colm Barrington confirmed this situation could not continue 46 In October 2009 newly appointed Chief Executive Christoph Mueller announced a radical cost cutting plan that would lead to the loss of 676 jobs at the company and see pay and pension reductions for those being retained The total plan aimed to achieve savings of 97 million between then and 2011 As a 6 week consultation process began Mueller refused to rule out further cuts in the future 47 Second Ryanair takeover bid 2008 2009 edit nbsp An Aer Lingus Boeing 737 200 and a BAC One Eleven of rival airline Ryanair at Dublin Airport in 1992 On 1 December 2008 Ryanair launched a second takeover bid of Aer Lingus making an all cash offer of 748 million 619mil US 950mil The 1 40 offer was a 28 premium on the average closing price of Aer Lingus stock during the 30 days to 28 November 28 1 09 but half what Ryanair had offered in 2006 Ryanair said Aer Lingus as a small stand alone regional airline has been marginalised and bypassed as most other EU flag carriers consolidate The two airlines would operate separately and Ryanair claimed that it would double the Aer Lingus short haul fleet from 33 to 66 and create 1 000 new jobs 48 49 50 The Aer Lingus Board rejected the offer and advised its shareholders to take no action 51 The offer was eventually rejected by a majority of the other shareholders It was the second failed attempt by Michael O Leary to take over the national flag carrier Ryanair initially left the offer open to Aer Lingus until it withdrew the bid on 28 January 2009 52 The Irish Government slammed O Leary s offer as undervaluing the airline and stated that a Ryanair takeover would have a significant negative impact on competition in the industry and on the Irish consumer 53 Ryanair repeatedly stated that another bid was unlikely 54 but it kept a stake in Aer Lingus prompting an investigation by competition regulators in the UK 55 In June 2009 Aer Lingus re branded its Premier Class to the new Business Class Gatwick base edit nbsp An Aer Lingus Airbus A319 100 departs London Heathrow in 2014 nbsp Aer Lingus Airbus A320 200 lands at London Heathrow Airport England On 19 December 2008 Aer Lingus announced that it would open a base at Gatwick Airport Four aircraft were based there beginning April 2009 serving eight destinations that included Dublin Faro Knock Malaga Munich Nice Vienna and Zurich CEO Dermot Mannion also said the company expects to increase the number of aircraft based at Gatwick to eight within 12 months 56 As of 6 June 2009 update the airline based an additional A320 aircraft at Gatwick bringing the total number to five and making Gatwick its biggest base outside Ireland This resulted in six new routes to Bucharest Eindhoven Lanzarote Tenerife Vilnius and Warsaw which commenced in late October 2009 The Gatwick to Nice route was suspended for the winter months On 8 January 2010 due to the weak demand in air travel Aer Lingus announced that it was to reduce the number of aircraft based at Gatwick from five to three The three remaining aircraft were to operate the carrier s services to Dublin Knock and Malaga as well as a new route to Cork 57 In January 2011 Aer Lingus announced a new daily service from Gatwick to Shannon starting at the end of March The service has since been suspended 58 The service to Malaga was suspended in January 2012 and the base closed in 2015 The Gatwick to Cork route ended 27 October 2012 A new service from Gatwick to Belfast City Airport started on 28 October operating three times per day and follows the airline s move from Belfast International Airport to Belfast City Airport That service was suspended on 27 April 2016 Appointment of Christoph Mueller as CEO edit On 6 April 2009 CEO Dermot Mannion announced his resignation from the airline after four years as Chief Executive 59 He was replaced by German born Christoph Muller alternative spelling Mueller former head of TUI Travel and Sabena who joined Aer Lingus on 1 October 2009 60 On 2 December 2009 Aer Lingus announced that talks with its unions had broken down As a result the board voted to reduce capacity and with it associated jobs as a response According to Mueller concessions offered by unions were of a short term nature and the airline was asked for high compensation in return Aer Lingus did not identify the routes or jobs to be cut but they would most likely commence immediately and will be compulsory according to Mueller 61 As of April 2010 update all employees groups had passed votes on the acceptance of the Greenfield cost cutting plans which were expected to save 57M annually Once implemented the second phase of cost cutting was to commence which aimed to save 40M annually by reducing back office staff numbers by up to 40 according to the CEO Mueller indicated that Aer Lingus intended to reposition itself again moving away from head to head competition with Ryanair in the low cost sector to a more hybrid model with a stronger emphasis on service As part of this move Aer Lingus entered talks to join an airline alliance again having left Oneworld in 2007 62 Aer Lingus announced on 15 June 2010 that it would suspend services from Shannon to Boston and New York JFK for 11 weeks beginning January 2011 63 75th anniversary edit Aer Lingus celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2011 On 26 March the company presented its latest aircraft which has been painted in the 1960s livery and the crew was wearing a selection of historical uniforms 64 Third Ryanair takeover bid 2012 edit On 19 June 2012 Ryanair announced its intention to launch another bid to take over Aer Lingus at 1 30 per share for a total of 694 million 65 Ryanair expressed the hope that the competition authorities would not block this attempt pointing to the recent takeovers of bmi and Brussels Airlines by International Airlines Group IAG parent company of Iberia and British Airways and Lufthansa respectively 66 On 20 June 2012 Aer Lingus issued a press release stating that having reviewed Ryanair s proposed offer the company board rejected it and advised the company s shareholders not to take any action concerning it The statement pointed out that any offer from Ryanair was unlikely to be capable of completion due to firstly the EU Commission s 2007 decision to block the airline s bid for Aer Lingus at the time and secondly the UK Competition Commission s ongoing investigation of Ryanair s minority stake in Aer Lingus Furthermore the press release stated that the Aer Lingus board believed that Ryanair s offer undervalued Aer Lingus considering the airline s profitability and balance sheet including cash reserves over 1 billion as of 31 March 2012 update 67 On 27 February 2013 the European Commission blocked the third attempt by Ryanair to take over Aer Lingus stating that the merger would have damaged consumers choice and resulted in increased fares 68 Virgin Atlantic wet lease agreement edit Further information Virgin Atlantic Little Red In December 2012 following the acquisition of British Midland International by British Airways Virgin Atlantic was awarded slots to fly domestic routes in the UK from Heathrow Airport ending the monopoly on these services that BA had held since its successful takeover Aer Lingus supplied on a wet lease agreement four Airbus A320 214 aircraft painted in Virgin s colours but under Irish registration 30 as well as crew for these services which operated from London Heathrow to Aberdeen Edinburgh and Manchester Services began on 31 March 2013 to Manchester 69 This wet lease agreement ended in September 2015 as Virgin Atlantic cancelled its domestic services 70 Long haul expansion edit In July 2013 expansion into North America was announced launching in 2014 including a direct service from Dublin to San Francisco five times weekly and a daily service from Dublin to Toronto to be operated by Air Contractors with Boeing 757s on behalf of the airline It was also announced that transatlantic services from Shannon to Boston and New York would operate daily all year round from January 2014 to Boston and from March 2014 to New York s John F Kennedy International Airport however the airline would lease Boeing 757 aircraft from Air Contractors to operate these routes rather than using its Airbus A330 aircraft as it had done before 71 In addition Aer Lingus service to Washington Dulles airport resumed 1 May 2015 with four flights weekly and flights to Los Angeles Newark Miami Philadelphia and Seattle all started between 2015 and 2018 72 Flights from Dublin to Minneapolis operated from 2019 until being suspended due to the COVID 19 pandemic they are scheduled to resume 29 April 2024 73 On 24 March 2021 Aer Lingus announced the launch of four new routes from Manchester Airport New York John F Kennedy and Orlando from 29 July 2021 Barbados from 20 October 2021 and Boston from summer 2022 74 Change of CEO edit On 18 July 2014 Aer Lingus said it had been agreed between the company and Mueller that he would step down as CEO and director in May 2015 Mueller left to join Malaysia Airlines as part of its restructuring exercise 60 On 16 February 2015 the company announced that the new CEO and director would be Stephen Kavanagh beginning 1 March 2015 75 As of 1 January 2019 Sean Doyle became the new Aer Lingus CEO 76 As of 6 April 2021 Lynne Embleton became the new Aer Lingus CEO IAG takeover 2014 2015 edit On 14 December 2014 International Airlines Group IAG owner of British Airways Iberia and Vueling launched a 1 billion takeover bid 2 30 per share for Aer Lingus Group plc The Aer Lingus Board rejected the offer on 16 December 2014 with Aer Lingus commenting that the offer was preliminary highly conditional and non binding It was further noted The board has reviewed the proposal and believes that it fundamentally undervalues Aer Lingus and its attractive prospects Accordingly the proposal was rejected 77 On 9 January 2015 Aer Lingus rejected a second bid from IAG proposing a 2 40 per share takeover 78 On 24 January 2015 IAG launched a third bid for Aer Lingus proposing a 2 55 per share takeover offer totalling close to 1 4 billion 79 On 27 January 2015 Aer Lingus s board announced that the financial terms of IAG s third proposal for the airline are at a level it is willing to recommend Aer Lingus said it noted IAG s intentions regarding the future of the company in particular that Aer Lingus would operate as a separate business with its own brand management and operations 80 On 26 May 2015 the Irish Government agreed to the sale of its 25 shareholding to IAG with a takeover now dependent on Ryanair s position on the matter 8 On 10 July 2015 Ryanair voted to sell its nearly 30 stake in the airline The takeover was later approved by the EU and US regulators subject to IAG giving up five slot pairs at London Gatwick Airport 81 On 2 September 2015 IAG assumed control of Aer Lingus 11 On 17 September 2015 following completion of the acquisition by IAG the company s shares were withdrawn from the Irish Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange 2020s edit See also Impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on aviation and Impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on tourism On 25 February 2020 Aer Lingus noted it had been advised by the Department of Foreign Affairs that travel restrictions were being placed on several Italian towns within Italy s Lombardy region as a result of an outbreak of COVID 19 there 82 however stated all flights would continue to operate 82 further advising all flights operated would continue to comply with guidelines locally from the HSE as well as from the WHO and EASA 82 nbsp An Aer Lingus Airbus A330 300 in Beijing China during late March 2020 retrieving PPE for Ireland s HSE 83 On 28 February Aer Lingus had been informed that a passenger had travelled with COVID 19 on a service from Milan Linate to Dublin 84 and that it was cooperating fully with the HSE and Department for Foreign Affairs 82 Four Aer Lingus cabin crew were also placed into self isolation from the flight in question 84 The following day Aer Lingus announced flight suspensions to Northern Italy 85 subsequently extending this on 10 March to all services to Italy 86 On 13 March Donald Trump then President of the United States announced a European travel ban which initially exempted Ireland 87 however this was extended to cover Ireland the following day 88 Aer Lingus subsequently announced network wide reductions 89 which eventually saw its network of flights reduced by 95 90 the airlines plan for its biggest summer schedule within its history was scuppered as a result of what became a global pandemic 91 In a temporary measure the airline confirmed it was cutting hours and salaries for all employees by 50 92 Later that month on 29 March Aer Lingus flight EI9019 from Beijing China touched down at Dublin Airport carrying vital PPE for Ireland s health service workers it marked the start of hundreds of flights the carrier was expected to operate to from China on request of the Government 93 With just 5 of scheduled flights operating it was announced on 1 May 2020 that Aer Lingus was seeking 900 job cuts 94 The airline subsequently entered into talks with trade unions about changes to work practices and proposed job cuts 95 Aer Lingus CEO Sean Doyle commented that it would take years for the aviation industry to recover 95 Aer Lingus later confirmed it was seeking further temporary pay cuts and changes to work practices in a cost saving exercise 96 advising that its 2021 schedule would be at least 20 lower than planned 96 Job cuts were confirmed later that month those holding temporary contracts were made redundant 97 and cabin crew based in Shannon were informed that they would be temporarily laid off as the airline was not operating services from there 98 On 13 June media reporting indicated broad acceptance of proposed measures based on a final draft document between Aer Lingus and Trade Unions 99 however the following day the union Forsa representing over 1 400 Aer Lingus cabin crew advised of its intention to ballot members 100 The airline stated on 15 June that if acceptance was not agreed by 6pm that evening it would withdraw its offer and implement them unilaterally with a 70 cut to employees wages excluding pilots 101 As the deadline passed the airline initiated the action to implement the changes angering Trade Unions representing the majority of Aer Lingus employees 101 On 17 June the airline agreed to allow a ballot for up to two weeks for its pilots for changes to work practices and recovery of salaries 102 In June 2021 the airline said it wanted to freeze workers pay for five years while it is proposing sharp cuts in rates paid to new cabin and crew staff 103 Corporate affairs editOwnership and structure edit Aer Lingus was listed on the Irish and London Stock Exchanges under ticker EIL1 on the Irish Stock Exchange and ticker AERL on the London Stock Exchange 104 However it was delisted on 17 September 2015 following its majority acquisition by IAG Shareholdings as of 2 September 2015 update are 11 Shareholder Shares Interest International Airlines Group 98 05 Other investors 1 95 Total 534 040 090 100 00 Aer Lingus Cargo edit Aer Lingus Cargo is the airline s cargo division It uses reserved areas of passenger aircraft cargo holds Aer Lingus Cargo is available on all routes to the US from Dublin and Shannon Cargo services are also offered on most European routes and some routes to the UK the division subsequently rebranded as IAG Cargo 105 Aer Lingus Regional edit Main article Aer Lingus Regional Aer Lingus Regional flights have been operated by Emerald Airlines on a franchise basis since 17 March 2022 106 Aer Lingus had a franchise agreement with Irish regional airline Stobart Air formerly Aer Arann under which Stobart Air operated several routes under the Aer Lingus Regional brand livery and flight code 107 Stobart Air had not operated any flights under its own RE code since April 2012 and all its routes were transferred to Aer Lingus with flight numbers in the EI3XXX range citation needed Stobart Air was placed into liquidation in June 2021 Aer Lingus and BA CityFlyer stepped in to operate the routes on a temporary basis 108 Business trends edit Key trends for Aer Lingus are as at year ending 31 December 109 Business indicators from 2015 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Total revenue m 1 718 1 766 1 859 2 020 2 125 467 366 1 667 Net profit m 118 205 234 258 225 502 338 23 0 Number of employees average FTE 2 753 2 711 2 662 2 658 2 646 1 609 2 472 2 283 Number of passengers m 10 1 10 4 10 9 11 3 11 6 2 1 2 0 9 0 Passenger load factor 81 6 81 6 81 2 80 9 81 8 46 4 48 0 77 0 Number of aircraft at year end 49 51 53 56 58 56 57 56 Sources 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 Business indicators 2007 2014 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Total revenue m 1 284 1 357 1 205 1 215 1 288 1 393 1 425 1 557 Net profit m 105 107 130 43 0 71 2 33 9 34 1 95 8 Number of employees average FTE 3 905 4 035 3 844 3 516 3 491 3 566 3 615 3 766 Number of passengers m 9 3 10 0 10 4 9 3 9 5 9 7 9 6 9 8 Passenger load factor 75 4 72 8 74 5 76 1 75 6 77 7 78 4 79 0 Number of aircraft at year end 41 42 44 44 43 44 47 50 Sources 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 Business model edit Aer Lingus adopted a small frills strategic approach a hybrid between a traditional legacy airline and a low cost carrier 128 The difference lies in the services offered on short haul and long haul flights with meals offered free on the latter only The new strategy required considerable negotiation with the unions and a consensus was reached that lower costs and a reinvention of the airline were necessary for its survival The union concessions that arose from the negotiations were detrimental to the airline s image however by 2003 the wage freeze had been lifted and there were 3 800 voluntary redundancies with no forced layoffs These factors contributed to the airline s reported profits in 2002 2003 and 2005 with only a small loss recorded in 2004 128 Head office edit nbsp Aer Lingus s head office nbsp An Airbus A320 in the retro livery at Toulouse Blagnac Airport in 2011 before delivery to the airline nbsp Self check in machines of Aer Lingus at Dublin Airport The Aer Lingus head office is located on the grounds of Dublin Airport in Fingal County Dublin 129 Dublin Airport Authority DAA renovated an existing building to create Aer Lingus s headquarters 130 The HOB Site 131 the 9 9 acre 4 0 ha former head office site includes the former head office building the services annexe the Iolar House 132 the Mock Up Building the ALSAA swimming pool and various smaller structures and buildings 131 The Head Office Building housed the corporate head office of Aer Lingus and its subsidiaries and many administrative functions employees and car parking spaces were located in this building The Iolar House and Mock Up Building housed training facilities for Aer Lingus crew and office space 131 This former head office is proximate to the former Ryanair head office Brian Lavery of The New York Times said in 2004 that the proximity described by Lavery as a few parking lots away was a symbol of just how close the competition is to home 133 In 2010 Aer Lingus announced that it surrendered the lease on its head office building to the Dublin Airport Authority and that it would move its employees to Hangar 6 and other buildings in the airline s property portfolio during the year of 2011 The airline said that its head office building which was stated by the International Business Times to require refurbishing was too large for the company s needs following the Greenfield cost reduction programme 132 On 8 November 2011 Aer Lingus signed the contract with the Dublin Airport Authority for the surrender of the leasehold interest in the HOB Site Aer Lingus would pay 22 15 million and interest to the DAA with 10 55 million being paid over ten years in annual payments with each being equal size The payments will involve a 5 interest rate per annum 131 The former HOB Site was redeveloped into Dublin Airport Central with the Dublin Airport Authority planning to spend 10 million The former head office became One Dublin Airport Central 134 Employee relations edit On 30 May 2014 Aer Lingus cabin crew staged a 24 hour strike resulting in the cancellation of around 200 flights and the disruption of travel plans by up to 200 000 people The workers were seeking changes to their rosters which the airline said that if implemented would mean the loss of 300 jobs in Ireland which would have to be relocated to North America 135 Sponsorships edit Aer Lingus sponsored the Irish Times International Fiction Prize from 1989 to 1992 when it was also known as the Irish Times Aer Lingus International Fiction Prize 136 On 30 April 2015 it was announced that Aer Lingus would become the official airline of the Irish Rugby Team On the same day it was announced that one aircraft was to be renamed Green Spirit and wear a special livery for the Irish Rugby Team Another aircraft would also be painted in the same livery 137 Destinations and hubs editMain article List of Aer Lingus destinations As of January 2023 Aer Lingus flies to 93 destinations throughout Asia Europe and North America including destinations in Austria Belgium Canada Croatia France Germany Greece Ireland Italy the Netherlands Poland Portugal Spain Switzerland Turkey the United Kingdom and the United States In October 2022 it was announced that Aer Lingus operations between Belfast City and London Heathrow would transfer to Aer Lingus UK due to Brexit related requirements that a European carrier could no longer fly domestic routes within the United Kingdom These flights were operated by British Airways under wet lease terms using the Aer Lingus UK flight numbers and callsigns 138 Hubs edit Aer Lingus currently has six hubs Dublin Aer Lingus uses Dublin as its primary hub for almost all transatlantic and international flights servicing many European American African Asian South American and a majority of their UK based routes Dublin serves as the airline s primary maintenance base Cork Despite a cut back in operations in recent years Cork is still an important base for Aer Lingus There are 3 aircraft based at the airport operating 10 services to the UK and Europe Shannon In smaller operation Aer Lingus services Shannon as a secondary hub for onward connections onto transatlantic flights Aer Lingus operate short haul flights to London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle which they use to feed their daily transatlantic flights to and from Boston and New York JFK Belfast The service provided from Belfast are primarily within the UK but some international European flights operate into Belfast After Brexit Aer Lingus moved to provide more UK service out of Belfast than Dublin as travel laws affected the operations Codeshare agreements edit Aer Lingus has codeshare agreements with the following airlines 139 Air Canada Alaska Airlines 140 American Airlines British Airways Iberia JetBlue Loganair citation needed Qatar Airways 141 VuelingFleet editAer Lingus aircraft are named after Christian saints from Ireland 142 Current fleet edit nbsp Aer Lingus Airbus A320 200 nbsp Aer Lingus Airbus A320neo nbsp Aer Lingus Airbus A321LR nbsp Aer Lingus Airbus A330 300 As of December 2022 update Aer Lingus excluding its subsidiaries Aer Lingus Regional and Aer Lingus UK operates an all Airbus fleet composed of the following aircraft 143 144 Aer Lingus fleet Aircraft In service Orders Passengers 145 Notes C Y Total Airbus A320 200 29 174 174 Airbus A320neo 4 4 146 186 186 Airbus A321LR 8 16 168 184 Airbus A321XLR 6 147 148 TBA Delivery scheduled from 2024 149 Launch operator 150 Airbus A330 200 3 23 243 266 248 271 258 281 Airbus A330 300 10 30 283 313 287 317 Total 54 10 Fleet development edit In January 2017 Aer Lingus announced its intention to finalise an order for eight A321LR twinjets to develop thinner transatlantic routes which cannot be operated profitably and fuel efficiently using A330s As of November 2018 the airline has orders for fourteen A321LRs 151 At the 2019 Paris Air Show IAG agreed to purchase 14 Airbus A321XLR aircraft 8 for delivery to Iberia and 6 to Aer Lingus with options for a further 14 of the aircraft 152 The first aircraft will be delivered in 2023 and replace their Boeing 757 200s In April 2020 Aer Lingus terminated their contract with the Irish airline CityJet which operated 2 BAE Avro RJ85 s on behalf of the airline The aircraft were primarily used for the Dublin to London City route Historical fleet edit nbsp An Aer Lingus BAC One Eleven in 1982 nbsp An Aer Lingus Boeing 747 100 in 1980 nbsp Aer Lingus Boeing 737s in 1993 Aer Lingus historical fleet Aircraft Introduced Retired Notes Transatlantic fleet Boeing 707 320 1964 1986 Boeing 720 1960 1971 Boeing 747 100 1970 1995 Boeing 757 200 2014 2020 Leased From ASL Airlines Ireland Boeing 767 200ER 2016 2016 Leased from Omni Air International Boeing 767 300ER 1991 1994 Douglas DC 8 63F 1990 1990 Leased from Arrow Air Douglas DC 8 73PF 1990 1990 Leased from Aer Turas Lockheed L 749 Constellation 1948 Un known Lockheed L 1049 Super Constellation 1958 1960 Lockheed L 1011 TriStar 1989 1997 Leased from American Trans Air Caledonian Airways McDonnell Douglas MD 11 1998 1998 Leased from World Airways 2001 2001 European and commuter fleet Airbus A319 100 2011 2016 Airbus A321 200 1998 2022 Airspeed Consul 1948 1950 ATR 42 600 2003 2020 Aviation Traders Carvair 1963 1968 BAC One Eleven 1965 1990 British Aerospace BAe 146 300 1995 2006 Boeing 737 200 1969 1992 Leased from All Nippon Airways Boeing 737 300 1987 1993 Boeing 737 400 1989 2005 Boeing 737 500 1990 2005 Bristol 170 Freighter 1952 Un known de Havilland DH 84 Dragon 1936 1938 de Havilland DH 86 Express 1936 1946 de Havilland DH 89 Dragon Rapide 1938 1940 Douglas DC 3 1940 1964 Fokker F27 1958 1966 Fokker 50 1989 2001 Lockheed Super Electra 1939 1940 Saab 340B 1991 1995 Short 330 1983 Un known Short 360 1984 1991 Vickers Viking 1947 Un known Vickers Viscount 700 1954 1960 Vickers Viscount 800 1957 1973 Livery edit On 17 January 2019 Aer Lingus unveiled a new brand and livery The refreshed brand includes a new typeface refreshed shamrock and a new colour scheme The new livery consists of a white fuselage and teal engines and tail All Aer Lingus aircraft were expected to receive the new livery by the end of 2021 although some aircraft with the older livery are still in service as of 2023 153 Services editIn flight services edit From 2015 to 2016 Aer Lingus sold pre packaged Tayto sandwiches on board some of their flights 154 155 In 2018 the company announced that it would offer a complimentary glass of wine or beer on transatlantic flights 156 That year the company also announced plans to offer free wifi to Smart Fare transatlantic economy customers 157 In 2019 Aer Lingus introduced AerSpace its premium economy class 158 Frequent flyer programme edit AerClub is Aer Lingus frequent flyer programme It launched in November 2016 taking over from the airline s previous programme Gold Circle AerClub consists of four tiers the entry level Green Silver Platinum and Concierge 159 The club uses Avios points as its member currency Accidents and incidents edit nbsp A memorial at the site of the January 1952 crash Aer Lingus has a good clarification needed safety record with no crash fatalities in over 55 years citation needed It has had 12 incidents including six accidents which left aircraft written off of which three were fatal and one hijacking On 10 January 1952 a Douglas DC 3 registered EI AFL and named St Kevin was en route from Northolt to Dublin It flew into a mountain wave triggered by Snowdon and an area of extreme turbulence then crashed in a peat bog near Llyn Gwynant in Snowdonia killing all 20 passengers and 3 crew It was the company s first fatal accident 160 On 1 January 1953 a Douglas DC 3 registered EI ACF and named St Kieran made a forced landing near the town of Spernall England Both engines failed after running out of fuel while en route from Dublin to Birmingham All of the 25 passengers and crew survived The aircraft was later written off 161 On 22 June 1967 a Vickers Viscount registered EI AOF on a pilot training flight stalled and spun into the ground near Ashbourne killing all three crew 162 On 21 September 1967 Vickers Viscount EI AKK flying from Dublin to Bristol scraped its wing on the runway and crashed on landing at the destination airport All of the passengers and crew survived The aircraft was later written off 163 On 24 March 1968 a Vickers Viscount registration EI AOM named St Phelim en route from Cork to London crashed near Tuskar Rock in the waters off the southeast coast of Ireland All 57 passengers and 4 crew perished The crash is generally known as the Tuskar Rock Air Disaster in Ireland Part of the aircraft s elevator spring tab was found some distance from the rest of the wreckage suggesting that it had become detached at an earlier stage However the accident report reached no definitive conclusion about the cause of the crash but did not exclude the possibility that another aircraft or airborne object was involved Following persistent rumours that the aircraft s demise was linked with nearby British military exercises a review of the case files by the Air Accident Investigation Unit took place in 1998 This review identified several maintenance and record keeping failures and concluded that the original report failed to adequately examine alternative hypotheses not involving other aircraft 164 A subsequent investigation 165 concluded that the accident happened following a structural failure of the port tailplane and ruled out the possibility that another aircraft was involved citation needed On 2 May 1981 Aer Lingus Flight 164 from Dublin to London was hijacked and diverted to Le Touquet Cote d Opale Airport in France While authorities negotiated with the hijacker by radio in the cockpit French special forces entered the rear of the aircraft and overpowered him None of the passengers or crew were injured during the hijacking The official record shows the reason as One hijacker demanded to be taken to Iran Plane stormed hijacker arrested Duration of the hijacking less than 1 day 166 while various media reports indicated that the man Laurence Downey a former Trappist monk demanded that the Pope release the third secret of Fatima 167 168 On 31 January 1986 Aer Lingus Flight 328 a Short 360 registration EI BEM on a flight from Dublin to East Midlands Airport struck power lines and crashed short of the runway There were no fatalities but two passengers were injured in the accident 169 On 9 June 2005 Aer Lingus Flight 132 an Airbus A330 registration EI ORD nearly collided with US Airways Flight 1170 at Logan International Airport in Boston after both flights were given nearly simultaneous clearances for takeoff on intersecting runways The US Airways flight kept its nose down on the runway for an extended amount of time to go underneath the Aer Lingus flight and avoided a collision There were no fatalities In Winter months run less flights but no flights at all on Christmas Day to prevent travel in short days and long nights See also editTransport in Ireland Aer Lingus UKNotes edit According to the spelling and grammar rules of Modern Irish the compound noun aerloingeas and the two word term loingeas aeir with aer in the genitive case qualifying loingeas are the only two possible renderings into Irish of Aer Lingus The two word term aer loingeas with both nouns in the nominative case is not possible according to these rules References edit Learn more about Aer Lingus and their operations Airline Information AerClub Aer Lingus Archived from the original on 20 December 2016 Retrieved 6 January 2021 Full year results announcement PDF iairgroup com Archived PDF from the original on 3 September 2021 Retrieved 30 April 2021 Mulligan John 15 November 2017 Aer Lingus has no plans to rejoin airline alliance Irish Independent Archived from the original on 13 March 2018 Retrieved 12 March 2018 New type of flying at Aer Lingus CNN 22 March 2012 Archived from the original on 8 July 2014 Retrieved 9 December 2023 Aer Lingus Archived from the original on 2 April 2015 Retrieved 24 April 2015 Aer Lingus Group stock lookup on all exchanges Yahoo Finance UK amp Ireland Archived from the original on 8 March 2014 Retrieved 1 April 2012 a b Kelly Fiach Taylor Cliff 26 May 2015 Cabinet agrees to sell State s 25 stake in Aer Lingus The Irish Times Archived from the original on 26 May 2015 Retrieved 29 June 2015 Martin Ben 10 July 2015 Ryanair to allow IAG takeover of Aer Lingus The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 Mergers Commission approves acquisition of Aer Lingus by IAG subject to conditions Commission Europa 14 July 2015 Retrieved 25 September 2023 a b c Newenham Pamela 2 September 2015 IAG formally takes control of Aer Lingus The Irish Times Retrieved 9 December 2023 Spreading Our Wings Programme 1 A Wing and a Prayer RTE Radio 1 RTE Commercial Enterprises Limited 2010 Archived from the original on 17 October 2010 Retrieved 5 November 2010 Aer Lingus About Us Page Aer Lingus Aerlingus com Retrieved 25 September 2023 a b Skinner Liam M 1989 Ireland and World Aviation The Complete Story Universities Press Ltd a b Lalor Brian ed 2003 The Encyclopaedia of Ireland Dublin Gill amp Macmillan p 9 ISBN 0 7171 3000 2 Garvin Tom 13 September 2005 Preventing the Future Why Ireland Remained so Poor for so long Gill amp MacMillan Ltd ISBN 978 0 7171 3970 5 Top Irish economist Patrick Lynch dies independent 18 November 2001 Archived from the original on 22 March 2016 Retrieved 19 February 2020 A force behind country s economic growth in the 60s The Irish Times Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 19 February 2020 Niall pioneers definitive book on national airline independent 10 January 2003 Archived from the original on 2 March 2020 Retrieved 19 February 2020 Aer Lingus 50 Years Flying Transatlantic RTE Archives Archived from the original on 17 September 2020 Retrieved 1 October 2020 a b O Doherty Gemma 5 April 2008 Atlantic motion Independent Retrieved 1 October 2020 a b c Aer Lingus Key dates in airline s history independent 26 January 2015 Archived from the original on 18 December 2019 Retrieved 1 October 2020 O Reilly Jo Aer Lingus a history of Ireland s national airline The Irish Post Archived from the original on 8 November 2020 Retrieved 1 October 2020 a b c Mcsaibhris Sean 29 August 2006 Aer Lingus takes stock as it prepares for 1bn float in its 70th year Irish Examiner Archived from the original on 18 August 2021 Retrieved 1 October 2020 Supplementary Estimates 1971 72 Vote 41 Transport and Power Archived from the original on 23 June 2017 Retrieved 9 December 2023 Aer Lingus On Its Own Flight International 25 March 1971 Archived from the original on 8 July 2017 Retrieved 27 February 2013 A SECOND 747 will be delivered to Aer Lingus Irish within the next two weeks to join the first which arrived in Dublin on March 6 Murray Ken 26 May 2010 Permission to land first woman Aer Lingus pilot retires The Irish Times Archived from the original on 21 October 2012 Retrieved 9 December 2023 RTE Business Aer Lingus must privatise in 2006 CEO RTE News 27 October 2005 Archived from the original on 26 October 2012 Retrieved 10 July 2015 the funding of new long haul aircraft to replace the A330 fleet with the privatisation of the airline Finfacts com Archived from the original on 17 May 2011 Retrieved 17 April 2011 a b AerLingus corporate website detailing its current fleet of aircraft Archived 26 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine visited 3 July 2013 IAG Capital Markets Day International Airlines Group Archived from the original on 4 November 2017 Retrieved 15 February 2018 AER LINGUS GRP Share Price Chart Yahoo Finance UK amp Ireland Archived from the original on 15 March 2012 Retrieved 17 April 2011 Hennessy Niamh 8 February 2011 Fewer passengers fly Aer Lingus Irish Examiner Archived from the original on 18 January 2012 Retrieved 17 April 2011 Aer Lingus rejects Ryanair offer BBC News 5 October 2006 Archived from the original on 15 January 2009 Retrieved 23 April 2010 Aer Lingus says no as Ryanair ups stake RTE News 5 October 2006 Archived from the original on 11 March 2011 Retrieved 17 April 2011 Ryanair lifts stake in Aer Lingus BBC News 6 October 2006 Archived from the original on 9 October 2006 Retrieved 23 April 2010 O Leary in new 88m swoop on Aer Lingus Irish Independent 29 November 2006 Archived from the original on 3 March 2016 Retrieved 9 December 2023 Ryanair Withdraws 1 9 Billion Bid for Air Lingus CNBC Associated Press 20 December 2006 Archived from the original on 12 July 2015 Retrieved 10 July 2015 Ryanair s Aer Lingus bid blocked BBC News 27 June 2007 Archived from the original on 12 July 2015 Retrieved 10 July 2015 Ryanair appeals to Government on Shannon RTE News 7 August 2007 Archived from the original on 11 March 2011 Retrieved 17 April 2011 Airlines Belfast International Airport Archived from the original on 16 May 2011 Retrieved 10 July 2015 Hancock Ciaran 3 August 2012 United terminates service with Aer Lingus to Madrid The Irish Times Archived from the original on 4 August 2012 Retrieved 13 December 2023 a b Pallister David 6 October 2008 Aer Lingus to axe 1 500 jobs in bid to save 74m The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Archived from the original on 21 July 2020 Retrieved 21 July 2020 Unions to discuss draconian Aer Lingus cost cutting plan Irish Examiner 7 October 2008 Archived from the original on 11 July 2015 Retrieved 10 July 2015 Aer Lingus resumes Shannon Heathrow route RTE News 22 December 2008 Archived from the original on 25 December 2008 Retrieved 1 January 2009 Aer Lingus will look for pay cuts RTE News 28 September 2009 Archived from the original on 23 February 2011 Retrieved 1 January 2009 Aer Lingus staff briefed on job cuts RTE News 7 October 2009 Archived from the original on 10 October 2009 Retrieved 1 January 2009 Aer Lingus rejects Ryanair offer BBC News 1 December 2008 Archived from the original on 30 September 2009 Retrieved 4 August 2009 Michaels Daniel 1 December 2008 Ryanair s 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Aer Lingus to set up Gatwick base RTE News 19 December 2008 Archived from the original on 14 April 2009 Retrieved 4 August 2009 Aer Lingus to cut Gatwick planes to three RTE News 8 January 2010 Archived from the original on 23 February 2011 Retrieved 7 January 2011 Duggan Barry 6 January 2011 New route gives lift to Shannon Irish Independent Archived from the original on 9 January 2011 Retrieved 13 December 2023 Aer Lingus CEO resigns search for successor on Reuters 6 April 2009 Retrieved 17 April 2011 a b Christoph Mueller to leave Aer Lingus next year RTE News 18 July 2014 Archived from the original on 11 July 2015 Retrieved 10 July 2015 Lindsay Robert 2 December 2009 Aer Lingus to axe more jobs as pay talks fail The Times Archived from the original on 7 December 2009 Retrieved 13 December 2023 Aer Lingus looking to join an alliance Air Transport World 11 June 2010 Archived from the original on 14 June 2010 Retrieved 10 July 2015 Aer Lingus will suspend Shannon US flights RTḖ News 16 June 2010 Archived from the original on 25 October 2012 Retrieved 10 July 2015 Aer Lingus hopes for steady growth RTE News and Current Affairs 26 March 2011 Archived from the original on 3 November 2012 Retrieved 10 July 2015 Ryanair makes surprise bid for Aer Lingus Flightglobal Archived from the original on 30 June 2012 Retrieved 20 June 2012 Ryanair makes cash bid for Aer Lingus Reuters 19 June 2012 Archived PDF from the original on 22 September 2012 Retrieved 13 December 2023 Aer Lingus Group plc Statement regarding Ryanair Offer PDF Press release Aer Lingus 20 June 2012 Archived from the original PDF on 12 July 2015 Retrieved 10 July 2015 Ryanair s bid to take over Aer Lingus blocked BBC News 27 February 2013 Archived from the original on 17 June 2015 Retrieved 24 April 2015 Virgin Atlantic Short Haul Plans Revealed Press release Virgin Atlantic Airways 17 December 2012 Archived from the original on 13 July 2015 Retrieved 10 July 2015 Virgin Atlantic cancels Little Red domestic flight service BBC News 6 October 2014 Archived from the original on 1 June 2015 Retrieved 24 April 2015 Aer Lingus Announces Major Transatlantic Expansion Yahoo Finance Marketwired 3 July 2013 Archived PDF from the original on 23 September 2015 Retrieved 14 December 2023 Get the latest Aer Lingus web offers from USA Aer Lingus Archived from the original on 12 July 2015 Retrieved 24 April 2015 Aer Lingus www aerlingus com Retrieved 9 April 2024 Aer Lingus launches four new direct non stop transatlantic flights from Manchester creating up to 120 jobs mediacentre aerlingus com Retrieved 29 April 2021 Stephen Kavanagh is new Aer Lingus chief executive The Irish Times 16 February 2015 Archived from the original on 11 July 2015 Retrieved 10 July 2015 Hamilton Peter Aer Lingus chief Stephen Kavanagh to step down next year The Irish Times Archived from the original on 12 October 2018 Retrieved 9 April 2019 Aer Lingus rejected IAG takeover approach on value terms The Irish Times Archived from the original on 12 July 2015 Retrieved 24 April 2015 Aer Lingus rejects second approach from IAG RTḖ News 9 January 2015 Archived from the original on 11 January 2015 Retrieved 24 April 2015 IAG to make third bid for Aer Lingus Irish Independent Archived from the original on 4 April 2015 Retrieved 24 April 2015 Government to contact IAG on Aer Lingus bid RTḖ News 27 January 2015 Archived from the original on 27 January 2015 Retrieved 24 April 2015 IAG cleared for Aer Lingus takeover Financial Times 14 July 2015 Archived from the original on 18 July 2015 Retrieved 26 July 2015 a b c d Aer Lingus Coronavirus Statement 15th March Aer Lingus Group DAC Archived from the original on 12 June 2020 Retrieved 27 February 2020 Coronavirus Historic Ireland China PPE flights lands in Dublin BBC News 29 March 2020 Archived from the original on 4 April 2020 Retrieved 14 December 2023 a b Coronavirus Aer Lingus confirms passenger travelled on airline from Italy to Dublin Belfasttelegraph Belfast Telegraph Archived from the original on 12 June 2020 Retrieved 28 February 2020 Aer Lingus cuts Italian flights for March over virus Independent ie 29 February 2020 Archived from the original on 2 March 2020 Retrieved 29 February 2020 Goodbody Will 10 March 2020 Ryanair and Aer Lingus suspend Italian flights RTE Archived from the original on 11 March 2020 Retrieved 10 March 2020 Trump Donald 11 March 2020 Proclamation Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Certain Additional Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus whitehouse gov Archived from the original on 18 March 2021 Retrieved 1 March 2021 via National Archives Shaw Adam 14 March 2020 Trump administration to extend European travel ban to include UK and Ireland Fox News Archived from the original on 14 March 2020 Retrieved 14 March 2020 Aer Lingus to cut wages by 50 as airline reduces working hours for month of April theJournal ie 19 March 2020 Archived from the original on 20 March 2020 Retrieved 19 March 2020 AerLingus week of 26APR20 operations routesonline com Archived from the original on 12 June 2020 Retrieved 29 April 2020 For Aer Lingus best laid plans lost in Covid fog irishecho com Archived from the original on 18 May 2020 Retrieved 1 May 2020 Aer Lingus to cut wages by 50 as airline reduces working hours for month of April theJournal ie 19 March 2020 Archived from the original on 20 March 2020 Retrieved 19 March 2020 O Donnell Orla 29 March 2020 Shipment of PPE supplies arrives in Ireland from China RTE Archived from the original on 30 March 2020 Retrieved 29 March 2020 Goodbody Will May 2020 Aer Lingus in talks with unions about 900 job cuts RTE Archived from the original on 1 May 2020 Retrieved 1 May 2020 a b Aer Lingus boss warns air travel recovery is years away Independent ie 17 May 2020 Archived from the original on 24 May 2020 Retrieved 17 May 2020 a b Miley Ingrid 9 June 2020 Aer Lingus proposes pay cuts and work changes for staff RTE Archived from the original on 10 June 2020 Retrieved 9 June 2020 Aer Lingus confirms job cuts due to decimation in demand Irish Times Archived from the original on 22 June 2020 Retrieved 6 June 2020 Aer Lingus cabin crew in Shannon to be temporarily laid off RTE 27 May 2020 Archived from the original on 12 June 2020 Retrieved 27 May 2020 Aer Lingus strikes compromise with unions The Irish Times Archived from the original on 13 June 2020 Retrieved 13 June 2020 Miley Ingrid 13 June 2020 Aer Lingus cabin crew to be balloted on recovery plan RTE ie Archived from the original on 15 June 2020 Retrieved 13 June 2020 a b Unions critical of withdrawal of offer by Aer Lingus RTE 16 June 2020 Archived from the original on 19 June 2020 Retrieved 16 June 2020 Miley Ingrid 17 June 2020 Aer Lingus pilots wages to recover to 80 by April RTE ie Archived from the original on 17 June 2020 Retrieved 17 June 2020 O Halloran Barry Aer Lingus seeks five year pay freeze from workers The Irish Times Retrieved 4 June 2021 Welcome to Aer Lingus Investor Relations Aer Lingus Group plc Archived from the original on 15 April 2015 Retrieved 24 April 2015 Our Services Aer Lingus Cargo Archived from the original on 11 July 2015 Retrieved 10 July 2015 Aer Lingus and Emerald Airlines announce accelerated plans for launch of regional routes Aer Lingus Blog 16 December 2021 Retrieved 30 May 2022 Aer Lingus Regional Archived from the original on 1 July 2011 Kaminski Morrow David 13 June 2021 IAG carriers take up routes abandoned by Stobart Air collapse Flight Global Archived from the original on 14 June 2021 Retrieved 14 June 2021 Results and reports www iairgroup com Archived from the original on 1 July 2023 Retrieved 13 November 2023 Aer Lingus Annual Report 2015 PDF IAG Archived from the original PDF on 1 July 2023 Retrieved 13 November 2023 Aer Lingus Annual Report 2016 PDF IAG Retrieved 13 November 2023 permanent dead link Aer Lingus Annual Report 2017 PDF IAG Retrieved 13 November 2023 permanent dead link Aer Lingus Annual Report 2018 PDF IAG Retrieved 13 November 2023 permanent dead link Aer Lingus Annual Report 2019 PDF IAG Retrieved 13 November 2023 permanent dead link Aer Lingus Annual Report 2020 PDF IAG Retrieved 13 November 2023 permanent dead link Aer Lingus Annual Report 2021 PDF IAG Archived from the original PDF on 2 May 2022 Retrieved 13 November 2023 Aer Lingus Annual Report 2022 PDF IAG Archived from the original PDF on 1 July 2023 Retrieved 13 November 2023 Aer Lingus Annual Report 2007 PDF IAG Retrieved 13 November 2023 permanent dead link Aer Lingus Annual Report 2008 PDF IAG Retrieved 13 November 2023 permanent dead link Aer Lingus Annual Report 2009 PDF IAG Retrieved 13 November 2023 permanent dead link Aer Lingus Annual Report 2010 PDF IAG Retrieved 13 November 2023 permanent dead link Aer Lingus Annual Report 2011 PDF IAG Retrieved 13 November 2023 permanent dead link About Us Financial Information Aer Lingus Archived from the original on 22 May 2011 Retrieved 17 April 2011 Aer Lingus Annual Report 2012 PDF Aer Lingus Archived PDF from the original on 19 March 2013 Retrieved 7 March 2013 Aer Lingus Historic Data PDF Aer Lingus Archived from the original PDF on 8 March 2014 Retrieved 7 March 2014 Aer Lingus Annual Report 2013 PDF Aer Lingus 27 March 2014 Archived from the original on 9 November 2014 Retrieved 9 November 2014 Aer Lingus Annual Report 2014 PDF Aer Lingus 27 March 2014 Archived from the original on 30 May 2015 Retrieved 30 April 2015 a b Bamber G J Gittell J H Kochan T A amp von Nordenflytch A 2009 chapter 5 Up in the Air How Airlines Can Improve Performance by Engaging their Employees Cornell University Press Archived from the original on 31 October 2015 Retrieved 14 December 2023 About Us Aer Lingus aerlingus com Retrieved 14 December 2023 Air Lingus HQ Airport Dublin Archived 5 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine MC Bauchemie Retrieved on 1 October 2016 a b c d Completion of surrender of Aer Lingus Head Office PDF yumpu com Retrieved 14 December 2023 a b Aer Lingus surrenders lease on head office site Archived 29 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine International Business Times 25 June 2010 Retrieved 7 July 2010 Lavery Brian SPOTLIGHT Aer Lingus chief s survival guide Archived 26 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine The New York Times Saturday 2 October 2004 Retrieved 29 February 2010 Fagan Jack 23 March 2015 DAA begins 10m office development of old Aer Lingus HQ at Dublin airport Irish Times Archived from the original on 11 November 2017 Retrieved 20 February 2020 Aer Lingus Cabin crew strike affects 30 000 passengers BBC News 30 May 2014 Archived from the original on 31 May 2014 Retrieved 14 December 2023 Irish Times International Fiction Prize LibraryThing Retrieved 17 November 2023 Grainne Rothery 30 April 2015 Aer Lingus named official airline partner to the IRFU Business amp Leadership Archived from the original on 3 May 2015 Retrieved 29 June 2015 Aer Lingus leasing in BA capacity for UK domestic route ch aviation Retrieved 14 January 2023 Aer Lingus Partners Aer Lingus Dublin International Airlines Group Archived from the original on 19 June 2021 Retrieved 19 April 2020 Alaska Airlines and Aer Lingus team up to give Mileage Plan members more flights to Europe Press release Seattle Alaska Air Group Archived from the original on 27 March 2018 Retrieved 28 March 2018 via Newswire Qatar Airways and Aer Lingus launch new codeshare partnership Press release Qatar Airways Retrieved 13 March 2024 Aer Lingus aircraft will continue to be named after saints chief executive Irish Independent 15 November 2016 Retrieved 6 November 2022 Latest Register and Monthly Changes Irish Aviation Authority 31 August 2019 Archived from the original on 22 December 2015 Retrieved 6 September 2019 Aer Lingus Fleet Details Planespotters net 15 October 2021 Archived from the original on 29 October 2021 Retrieved 15 October 2021 Seat Maps PDF Archived from the original on 7 October 2021 Retrieved 15 June 2019 Aer Lingus Order Two More A320neos FlyingInIreland com 10 December 2023 Retrieved 14 March 2024 IAG orders 14 A321XLRs for Aer Lingus and Iberia Reuters Reuters 18 June 2019 Retrieved 18 August 2023 Hamilton Sophia 2 November 2022 How to Get Upgrade on Aer Lingus Flight Retrieved 18 August 2023 Ostrower Jon 22 December 2023 Aer Lingus tipped as first A321XLR operator in 2024 The Air Current Retrieved 10 February 2024 Aer Lingus confirmed as A321neo XLR launch operator ch aviation Retrieved 20 February 2024 Aer Lingus signals 4 additional a330s A330 Platform will transition to 300 variant Flight Global 2 November 2018 Archived from the original on 3 November 2018 Retrieved 16 May 2019 A321XLR STEALS PARIS SHOW key aero 10 July 2019 Retrieved 14 December 2023 Harper Lewis 17 January 2019 Aer Lingus unveils new livery on A330 Flightglobal com Archived from the original on 3 February 2019 Retrieved 9 March 2019 O Connor Amy 17 February 2016 You can get Northern Irish Tayto sandwiches on Aer Lingus flights from Belfast The Daily Edge Archived from the original on 15 July 2020 Retrieved 24 September 2016 Loftus Valerie 18 February 2016 Terrible news Aer Lingus has stopped selling Tayto sandwiches on board The Daily Edge Archived from the original on 24 September 2016 Retrieved 24 September 2016 Beresford Jack Aer Lingus will offer free alcohol on flights from 2019 The Irish Post Archived from the original on 28 September 2018 Retrieved 26 June 2020 Caswell Mark 25 September 2018 Aer Lingus to offer free wifi on transatlantic routes Business Traveller Archived from the original on 25 September 2018 Retrieved 26 June 2020 Conghaiole Pol o 7 May 2019 Aer Lingus launches first ever premium economy class Archived from the original on 7 May 2019 Retrieved 11 May 2019 Various Aerlub rewards depending on membership level Archived 20 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 8 December 2016 10 January 1952 Douglas C 47B 35 DK Dakota 3 Archived 25 June 2011 at the Wayback 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Television Scannal Scannal Aer Lingus Hijack RTE ie 3 February 2010 Archived from the original on 5 June 2011 Retrieved 24 April 2015 Aviation Safety Network Short 360 EI BEM accident synopsis Archived 6 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 22 May 2010 External links editOfficial website Portals nbsp Aviation nbsp Ireland nbsp CompaniesAer Lingus at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Media from Commons nbsp News from Wikinews nbsp Travel guides from Wikivoyage nbsp Data from Wikidata Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Aer Lingus amp oldid 1224125511 1970s to present, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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