is the national
Airline of the
Republic Of Ireland . Based in
Dublin , it operates 41 Airbus aircraft serving
Europe ,
Africa ,
North America and the
Middle East . The airline is 28% owned by the
Irish Government ; it was floated on the Dublin and London Stock Exchanges on
2 October 2006 , following prior government approval (the government previously owned 85% of the airline). Aer Lingus is a former member of the
Oneworld Airline Alliance , which it left on March 31, 2007.
1 The company employs 4,000 people and has revenue of €1,115.8 million as of 2006. Its slogan is ''Aer Lingus, reaching for new heights''. Aer Lingus transferred 8.6 million passengers in 2006. Aer Lingus has its own frequent flyer programme, the
Gold Circle Club programme, featuring three tiers - Gold, Prestige and Elite.
Aer Lingus Teoranta was registered as an airline on
22 May 1936 , as a joint venture with Blackpool and West Coast Air Services.
2 The name, ''Aer Lingus'' is an
Anglicisation of the
Irish form ''Aer Loingeas'' which means Air Fleet (as does
Aeroflot ). The name was originally proposed by Richard F O'Connor, who was Cork County Surveyor at the time, and an aviation enthusiast. Five days after being founded the airline opened its first service between
Baldonnel Airfield in Dublin and
Bristol ,
England , using a six-seater
De Havilland 84 Dragon (registration EI-ABA)
(Photo) biplane which was named ''Iolar'' (Eagle). The service was operated under the title Irish Sea Airways. Later that year, the airline acquired its second aircraft, a De Havilland 86 Express, a four engined biplane with a capacity of 14 passengers.
fleet now consists exclusively of
Airbus A320 family aircraft.]]
The airline was established as the national carrier under the Air Navigation and Transport Act (1936). 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 1938 ''Iolar'' was replaced by a
De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide and a second DH86B was also purchased. Two
Lockheed L-14s arrived in 1939, Aer Lingus' first all-metal aircraft.
In January
1940 , a new airport was completed in the Dublin suburb of
Collinstown and Aer Lingus moved their operations there. A new
DC-3 was bought and new services to
Liverpool and an internal service to
Shannon were inaugurated. The airline's services were curtailed during
World War II with the sole route being to Liverpool or Manchester (Barton) depending on the fluctuating security situation.
On
9 November 1945 , regular services were resumed with an inaugural flight to
London . From this point on Aer Lingus planes were painted in a silver and green livery, and the airline's first flight attendants were introduced. In 1946, a new Anglo-Irish agreement gave Aer Lingus exclusive UK traffic rights in exchange for a 40% holding by
British Overseas Airways Corporation and
British European Airways (BEA). Because of Aer Lingus' growth the airline bought seven new
Vickers Viking planes in 1947, however, these proved to be uneconomical and were soon sold.
In 1947,
Aerlínte Éireann came into existence with the purpose of operating transatlantic flights to
New York from
Ireland . Three new
Lockheed Constellation s were ordered but a financial crisis prevented the service from starting. The Constellations were then sold to
BOAC and the transatlantic service was put on hold. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Aer Lingus introduced new routes to
Brussels ,
Amsterdam and
Rome . Because of the expanding route structure the airline became one of the first to order
Vickers Viscount 707s in 1951. In 1956, Aer Lingus introduced a new, green-top livery with a white lighting flash down the windows and the Irish flag displayed on each plane's fin.
automobile freighter with little economic success.]]
On
28 April 1958 , Aerlínte Éireann operated the first transatlantic service from Shannon to New York. Three
Lockheed Super Constellation s were used for the thrice-weekly service. The aircraft were leased from the American airline
Seaboard And Western while Irish cabin crews were used. This arrangement continued until
1 January 1960 when Aerlínte Éireann was renamed Aer Lingus - Irish International Airlines. Aer Lingus entered the jet-age on
14 December 1960 when three
Boeing 720 s were delivered for use on the New York route, as well as for the newest Aer Lingus destination,
Boston .
In 1963, Aer Lingus added
Carvair s to the fleet. With this aircraft, five cars could be transported by loading them into the fuselage through the nose of the plane. The Carvair proved to be uneconomic for the airline, partly due to the rise of car ferry services by sea and the aircraft were then used for freight services until disposed of. The
Boeing 720 s proved to be a success for the airline on the transatlantic routes. In 1964, Aer Lingus took delivery of the larger
Boeing 707 .
of Aer Lingus at
Zurich Airport in 1975]]
Conversion of the European fleet to jet equipment began in 1965 when the
BAC 1-11 started services from
Dublin and
Cork to
Paris and via
Manchester to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt. A new livery was adopted in the same year, with a large white
Shamrock on the fin and titles of ''Aer Lingus-Irish International'' just above the plane's windows. In 1966, the remainder of the company's shares held by
Aer Rianta were transferred to the
Minister For Finance .
In 1966, the route from Shannon to
Montreal and onward to
Chicago was inaugurated.
In 1968, flights from
Belfast in
Northern Ireland to New York were started. The service was soon suspended due to the beginning of
The Troubles in the area. 1969 saw the introduction of
Boeing 737 s to the Aer Lingus fleet to cope with the high demand for flights between the cities of
Dublin and
London . Aer Lingus later extended the 737 flights to all of their
European network.
In 1970, Aer Lingus took delivery of two
Boeing 747 s for use on the transatlantic routes. A third was later added to the fleet but one was leased out because it was not profitable at first for the company to fly 747s across the
Atlantic Ocean . In 1974, a new livery was unveiled and the word ''International'' disappeared from the fuselage titles on Aer Lingus planes. The livery included two different colors of blue and one green, plus the white shamrock on the tail/fin.
In September 1979, Aer Lingus became the first airline other than
Alitalia to be used by
Pope John Paul II . The pontiff 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.
In 1984, a fully-owned subsidiary, ''Aer Lingus Commuter'', was formed so that Aer Lingus could fly to larger cities in Ireland and Britain whose flying time from Dublin did not require jet planes. These services were operated primarily by five of the Belfast-built
Shorts 360 after conducting a trial with the
Shorts 330 . Around this time Aer Lingus purchased a majority sharehold in the
Cargo Airline Aer Turas , owner of some
DC-8 freighter jets.
Between 1987 and 1989, new
Boeing 737 s arrived to replace the older ones, and 6
Fokker F50 s were added to the ''Commuter'' fleet. During 1990, after the passage of the deregulation act for the airline industry in Ireland, Aer Lingus had to reconsider its operational policies. The
BAC 1-11 s were retired and 5 new 737s arrived. In 1991, 4
Saab 340 Bs arrived at the commuter division to replace the
Shorts 360 planes. By 1992 Aer Lingus's entire original 737-200 fleet had been replaced and was now the first operator in the world of all three versions of the second generation 737. These were the -300, -400 and -500 series, although the -300 did not last long in Aer Lingus service.
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 ETOPS service on the
North Atlantic route. 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 8 million people had travelled across the Atlantic in Aer Lingus Boeing 747s. The late 1990s saw Aer Lingus return to
Belfast with a service to New York via Shannon.
Newark International Airport in
New Jersey was also added as a destination. Since then these flights have been suspended.
On
1 February 2001 , Aer Lingus Commuter was merged back into the mainline operation. Following the attacks on
11 September 2001 Aer Lingus' business was severely reduced. Staff numbers were cut, destinations were dropped and the fleet was reduced. The airline has since weathered the storm and is back in profit - this has largely been achieved through a strategy of 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). They are currently positioning themselves as competition to the European
No-frills airlines, such as
Ryanair ,
EasyJet ,
Volare and
Germanwings , while offering intercontinental flights as well. Business class travel and cargo provisions for short haul flights have both been phased out.
landing]]
On ,
Canada from 1966-1979. The
Great Circle distance of 5926 kilometres (3682 miles) is comparable to the current service to
Chicago but
Los Angeles remains Aer Lingus' longest route at 8338 kilometers (5181 miles). At the same time Mr. Mannion linked
the funding of new long haul aircraft to replace the A330 fleet with the privatisation of the airline .
On
29 October 2005 , Aer Lingus withdrew its last two
Boeing 737 aircraft from service. EI-CDH (a 737-500) operated the last sectors from Dublin to
Nice ,
France and back. The aircraft and its sister ship EI-CDG now operate for
Rossiya in
Russia . This marks the end of Boeing content within Aer Lingus' fleet.
On 6th June Aer Lingus strengthened its relationship with the European manufacturer by ordering 6 of the new A350XWB as well as 6 A330-300E aircraft. These will be used to expand Aer Lingus' long haul operations as well as replacement aircraft for 3 older models. Deliveries of the A330E will begin in 2009 and the A350XWB will begin in 2014.
In preparation for the commercial flotation of Aer Lingus on the Dublin stock market, the Irish government agreed to abolish the ,
Miami ,
Philadelphia and
San Francisco under consideration.http://www.rte.ie/business/2005/1111/shannon.html
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%.
Aer Lingus withdrew from the Oneworld airline alliance on
1 April 2007 , however it intends to maintain strong bilateral links with various Oneworld members and has no intention of joining any other global alliance. On
19 November 2006 , Aer Lingus declared that it would shortly announce agreements with
American Airlines ,
Cathay Pacific and
Qantas . However negotiations with
British Airways have yet to be concluded. The decision to leave the alliance was due to Aer Lingus repositioning itself as a low-fares point to point carrier, which is at odds with Oneworld's pitch to the premium international frequent flyer, and the cost involved for Aer Lingus with the acceptance of new members to the alliance.
On
6 February 2007 , however, the airline announced its intention to form a new alliance with
JetBlue Airways . This new alliance will be a weblink between the two airlines, meaning Aer Lingus customers will be able to book JetBlue destinations from the Aer Lingus website, and vice versa for JetBlue for customers.
With the flotation of Aer Lingus on the stock exchange, Aer Lingus is planning to expand its route network. New destinations to Europe and North America are planned, and further destinations to Asia also.
On
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%. There were also reports in the
Irish Times 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.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5412002.stm
On
29 November 2006 , Ryanair confirmed it had taken its stake to 26.2% of the airline.http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1732187&issue_id=14940
On
21 December 2006 , Ryanair announced it was withdrawing its current bid for Aer Lingus, with the intent of pursuing another bid in the near future after the
European Commission finishes investigating the current bid. The EC has been concerned that the takeover would reduce consumer choice and increase fares.http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8M4T5I01.htm
On
27 June 2007 , the European Commission announced their 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.
