Flew Amapola Flyg to Donegal on Sunday last and back Monday. The aircraft is pretty immaculate inside and out and the crews are really nice. Nobody mentioned it's free seating, so you can sit where you like.





The entire review of the flight with plenty more pictures (including the old school toilet, of course!) is here. I wonder if they will bid for the contract and stay with it or whether Emerald pretty much has it in the bag. Their last flight is 25 February according to what is on their web page booking engine, so there are only five months to go.

Anyway, if you're going to do it, I recommend it - it's fun! The Fokker is so much quieter inside than the Dash-8 and ATR-42/72.

OA260 wrote:

An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Toronto was forced to divert this evening after a "technical issue".

Flight EI127 left Dublin Airport at 1:30pm and was due to arrive in Toronto a little over four hours later.

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-ne ... t-25068412

Was it a resurrected Concorde?

CarbHeatIn wrote:

OA260 wrote:

An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Toronto was forced to divert this evening after a "technical issue".

Flight EI127 left Dublin Airport at 1:30pm and was due to arrive in Toronto a little over four hours later.

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-ne ... t-25068412

Was it a resurrected Concorde?

What do you mean resurrected?



They've operated Concorde for years!

ClassicLover wrote:

CarbHeatIn wrote:

OA260 wrote:

An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Toronto was forced to divert this evening after a "technical issue".

Flight EI127 left Dublin Airport at 1:30pm and was due to arrive in Toronto a little over four hours later.

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-ne ... t-25068412

Was it a resurrected Concorde?

What do you mean resurrected?



They've operated Concorde for years!

Lol why did you have to ruin it with the Aer Lingus . Com bit on it

Nice report on the CFN trip looks fun .

OA260 wrote:

Lol why did you have to ruin it with the Aer Lingus . Com bit on it

Nice report on the CFN trip looks fun .

Haha - I didn't make the image, I just did a quick Google search. The Aer Lingus dot Com thing brought back memories of THAT period!

CFN was definitely fun - lucked out with great weather the first day in Donegal. Day two was grey, but hey, getting one stunner of a day was enough for my guests who came over from the Netherlands to take the flight with me. Glad you enjoyed it!

Union: Air traffic control was close to shutdown

A disruptive series of air traffic control (ATC) closures at Dublin Airport caused by a staff shortage was “narrowly averted” early yesterday morning, the trade union that represents Ireland’s controllers has claimed.

www.independent.ie/news/news-headlines/ ... 89159.html

EI320 wrote:

It’s quite remarkable that a system developed in-house in the 60s remains the bedrock of the airline’s operations.

ASTRAL was a very advanced system for its time. This video from 1968 shows what BEA were using at the same time: https://youtu.be/_y4XZbG65jI (Thanks to ClassicLover for the link).

Skip to 2:05 for a view of their reservations centre...

Anyone know the paint plans for the ATRs that Emerald have acquired? Surely the first one should be out of the paint shop soon. Hopefully they are all painted in full EI livery.

EI321 wrote:

Anyone know the paint plans for the ATRs that Emerald have acquired? Surely the first one should be out of the paint shop soon. Hopefully they are all painted in full EI livery.

The one aircraft Emerald currently have, EI-GPP, returned to Exeter after it completed its proving flights in Ireland, presumably for work at Conor McCarthy's Exeter Aerospace facility in preparation for Aer Lingus Regional operations. There's also three ex-Virgin Australia aircraft sitting outside the facility, awaiting handover to Emerald. I'm not sure of Exeter has a paint facility so it'll be worth keeping an eye out on any movements there in the coming weeks.

Aer Lingus recently updated it's fleet page with a mock image of an ATR in the new livery, minus teal engines however.



There was talk of initial ops commencing in Q4 of this year but I'd consider that ambitious, the new year and from Q2 2022 seem far more realistic but happy to proven wrong as they do seem to making good progress with numerous aircraft already arriving on their property.

Passengers were kept on board a flight for two hours as a security operation got under way when the aircraft landed in Belfast on Sunday evening.

The Easyjet flight EZY839 from Gatwick arrived in Belfast International Airport at about 21:30 BST.

www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-58700992.amp

Per Flightradar24 there are three flights in a row on finals to DUB. Is that not a bit idiotic for current times?

Flew the 1800 FR Kerry to Dublin yesterday, estimate roughly 40 pax onboard, very enjoyable flight, rocket takeoff with some fun level turbulence. Oddly got an email from Aer Lingus to check in for their EIR flight... strange as I already got a refund.
One wonders if there would be much demand to support a flight from BHD or BFS. Will be planning another trip to KIR that's for sure.

Some will now be looking at winter breaks. I looked at DUB/GVA for Jan8 to 16 2022.. EI have two flights with Aer Space at nearly €1200 rtn and LX with one flight at nearly €600 rtn. Have I missed something?

Fliplot wrote:

Some will now be looking at winter breaks. I looked at DUB/GVA for Jan8 to 16 2022.. EI have two flights with Aer Space at nearly €1200 rtn and LX with one flight at nearly €600 rtn. Have I missed something?

Saturdays in January to GVA is bound to be popular. I think the Ski season could be very busy this year if the early part of the winter is OK from a flu point of view and any associated restrictions. It will be a test of pent-up demand, a lot of Skiers will have missed two years and be very keen to go, Easter is in mid-April next year, at least the peak season can be spread out over a few more weeks.

Fliplot wrote:

Per Flightradar24 there are three flights in a row on finals to DUB. Is that not a bit idiotic for current times?

As in there’s 3 aircraft on the ILS at the same time? Why would that be idiotic?

I understand the possible demand, I don't understand the EI pricing. It isn't simply the Aer Space fares, they are higher all round! Maybe fill LX and then wait for tbe flood?

Sorry I wasnt very clear. All three flights were from AMS. It seemed overkill at a time of slow regrowth!

Fliplot wrote:

Some will now be looking at winter breaks. I looked at DUB/GVA for Jan8 to 16 2022.. EI have two flights with Aer Space at nearly €1200 rtn and LX with one flight at nearly €600 rtn. Have I missed something?

Number crunchers have determined they can make more by selling all 6 seats instead of 4 AerClub on weekends to Geneva where as Mon-Fri they are happy to fill with AerClub.

Plus there was a 3rd flight Saturdays before so a lot of seats will now be block booked on weekends by tour operators.

Fliplot wrote:

Sorry I wasnt very clear. All three flights were from AMS. It seemed overkill at a time of slow regrowth!

DUB - AMS has been operated throughout the COVID crisis by all three carriers on the route; EI, FR, KL.
In the evening, all three airlines operate in tendem into DUB.

- arr. 22.20 EI611 AMS
- arr. 22.25 KL939 AMS
- arr. 22.40 FR3007 AMS

Fliplot wrote:

Sorry I wasnt very clear. All three flights were from AMS. It seemed overkill at a time of slow regrowth!

Ah I getcha. I'm guessing it was EI, FR and KL (as in 3 different carriers?). Likely all chasing the folks doing a day's work in Dublin once they get off I would guess, or connecting with their respective (greatly diminished) long haul waves I would guess.

Fliplot wrote:

Sorry I wasnt very clear. All three flights were from AMS. It seemed overkill at a time of slow regrowth!

All three airlines target different segments of the market as well, so that is also why there is enough demand to support all three services.

Fliplot wrote:

I understand the possible demand, I don't understand the EI pricing. It isn't simply the Aer Space fares, they are higher all round! Maybe fill LX and then wait for tbe flood?

EI is always strongly priced and there are people who pay it.

To be quite honest, considering how good SWISS business class is, you'd be mad to fly EI AerSpace if SWISS was half the price. The product is also about three times better as well as AerSpace is an Economy Plus product (which makes the pricing even more crazy) whereas LX is proper business class. I flew LX in J from Zurich to Dublin in August 2020 and it blew me away at how good it was. Fabulous is not a good enough word to describe it. I wrote about it here.

A very good report! My first A220 flight was also with Swiss, but in Economy - same route. I was very impressed. Lovely aircraft - nice and quiet. The Swiss service was very good, even though you just get a small hot pastry in Y. Good enough.

The one think about LX, vs. EI, is that EI's schedule is better from DUB; you (used to) leave at about 6.40 and get into ZRH at about 9.40 and then your return would be late at night, so it worked better. I would not consider Aer Club; EI's Y is fine for me. I hope they return to ZRH soon.

kaitak wrote:

EI's Y is fine for me. I hope they return to ZRH soon.

Aer Lingus currently due to start 8/11 if not further cancelled.

After the US announcement, Aer Lingus to resume SFO from December 12 for a month before returning in late Feb 2022.

AA connections via ORD are also now available with EI.

Fliplot wrote:

Some will now be looking at winter breaks. I looked at DUB/GVA for Jan8 to 16 2022.. EI have two flights with Aer Space at nearly €1200 rtn and LX with one flight at nearly €600 rtn. Have I missed something?

That is expensive, even taking into account the fact that the leisure ski market is generally less price sensitive than sun routes.

Anyone have any hint as to the reason behind the incident at BFS last night?

JAmie2k9 wrote:

AA connections via ORD are also now available with EI.

This is incredibly interesting, and one hopes a major development in regards to the OneWorld transatlantic joint venture. Maybe we’ll see EI move to T3 at ORD to co-locate with AA given its domestic arrival status. Hopefully we’ll see AA connections out of PHL too.

JAmie2k9 wrote:

AA connections via ORD are also now available with EI.

Thanks for reporting this news.
Just checked aa.com for some dates I have planned for DFW-DUB travel and EI is not offered as an option on any of my dates. Checked the same dates on aerlingus.com and all have AA as a connection option! Will try again tomorrow as aa.com seems to update at night.
Also checked Google flights and they show pricing for connecting EI/AA flights, but only bookable on EI. The price matrix on Google is quoting the AA/EI flights as one of the most expensive options, and several hundred more than a UA/EI ticket (both routing DFW-ORD-DUB).

IrishTexan wrote:

JAmie2k9 wrote:

AA connections via ORD are also now available with EI.

Thanks for reporting this news.
Just checked aa.com for some dates I have planned for DFW-DUB travel and EI is not offered as an option on any of my dates. Checked the same dates on aerlingus.com and all have AA as a connection option! Will try again tomorrow as aa.com seems to update at night.
Also checked Google flights and they show pricing for connecting EI/AA flights, but only bookable on EI. The price matrix on Google is quoting the AA/EI flights as one of the most expensive options, and several hundred more than a UA/EI ticket (both routing DFW-ORD-DUB).

Given that there is zero information on this arrangement yet on either airline’s websites this is not surprising, we have no idea about frequent flyer status recognition or reciprocal mileage agreements. This has to be either an early test that shouldn’t be public or it is out a little before it should and some things need to catch up.

Nordic Aviation Capital mulls options for landmark Limerick HQ

Nordic Aviation Capital, the aircraft lessor in the throes of finalising a $6bn (€5bn) debt deal with lenders, is mulling options for its lease at the high-profile Gardens International office development in Limerick city, the Irish Independent understands.

https://m.independent.ie/business/irish ... 94752.html

According to Cork Airport twitter, Ryanair are hosting a press conference this morning. More info to follow at 10 and hopefully some well needed good news for Cork!

Some interesting old aviaiton charts from the 1950s, of DUB and SNN: https://konbriefing.com/mad/approach-ch ... rport.html

cc47 wrote:

According to Cork Airport twitter, Ryanair are hosting a press conference this morning. More info to follow at 10 and hopefully some well needed good news for Cork!

An article here :


Ryanair plans to restore routes and reopen base in Cork

It is expected that the base, which was closed last October, could reopen before the end of this year.

www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-40707881.html

alancostello wrote:

IrishTexan wrote:

JAmie2k9 wrote:

AA connections via ORD are also now available with EI.

Thanks for reporting this news.
Just checked aa.com for some dates I have planned for DFW-DUB travel and EI is not offered as an option on any of my dates. Checked the same dates on aerlingus.com and all have AA as a connection option! Will try again tomorrow as aa.com seems to update at night.
Also checked Google flights and they show pricing for connecting EI/AA flights, but only bookable on EI. The price matrix on Google is quoting the AA/EI flights as one of the most expensive options, and several hundred more than a UA/EI ticket (both routing DFW-ORD-DUB).

Given that there is zero information on this arrangement yet on either airline’s websites this is not surprising, we have no idea about frequent flyer status recognition or reciprocal mileage agreements. This has to be either an early test that shouldn’t be public or it is out a little before it should and some things need to catch up.

Not sure its a test as they have offered connections out of LAX since around March and JFK/MCO for MAN. Now none of these services have operated since.

It wouldn't surprise me if this is similar to certain partners and just them pulling AA flight/pricing and not really a partnership yet.

———

Cork Airport reporting FR will be holding a press conference this morning.

New routes from December 1st Birmingham and Edinburgh x 3 weekly from Cork. Most seasonal services also resume in March 2022. Girona might be new or not operated in a few years. x2 based a/c.

Malta/Naples not yet available plus Budapest that went to SNN.

Ryanair to reopen Cork Airport base and restore 20 routes to UK and Europe

The Ryanair network for this winter will include Alicante, Bermingham, Edinburgh, Gdańsk, Lanzarote, Liverpool, London Gatwick, Luton and Stansted, Malaga, Poznan, and Tenerife.

Its network for summer 2022 will include Alicante, Bermingham, Bordeaux, Carcassonne, Edinburgh, Faro, Gdańsk Girona, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Liverpool, London Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, Malaga, Mallorca, Milan Bergamo, Poznan, Reus and Tenerife.

www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-40708181.html

It appears the UA SFO-DUB has been pushed back again. I was due on the 26th March but been rebooked viva IAD

A mate of mine just got an email from Emirates they are putting on an extra two flights due to demand for October BH :


SAT 23 OCT '21
-----------------
EK 163 DXB DEP 14:35 DUB ARR 18:55 77WR
EK 164 DUB DEP 20:50 DXB ARR 08:15+1 77WR

SAT 30 OCT '21
-----------------
EK 163 DXB DEP 14:35 DUB ARR 18:55 77WJ
EK 164 DUB DEP 20:50 DXB ARR 08:15+1 77WJ

In order to allow for greater connectivity and access to more destinations we have re-timed our Friday service between 05th Nov 21 -25th Mar 22 to the following

EK 161 05-Nov-21 25-Mar-22 ____5__ DXB 10:30 DUB 14:45
EK 162 05-Nov-21 25-Mar-22 ____5__ DUB 18:00 DXB 05:35

Great news regarding Ryanair’s full return to Cork, a real sign of confidence from the airline and a positive result for Cork after the runway works are completed. It shows what can be done when you aren’t bleating on about being “a much smaller airline post pandemic” and pushing ahead with plans to achieve that shrinkage!

Not entirely convinced the new EDI and MAN routes will perform in the long run at 3 weekly nor is it ideal for passengers but it does fill an immediate gap with Aer Lingus Regional still months away from even thinking about a return to Cork regional routes.

Ryanair urges Government to extend Covid-19 travel recovery scheme at Dublin Airport

RYANAIR urged the Government to extend the Covid-19 travel recovery scheme at Dublin Airport or face a 35pc reduction in critical traffic volumes next year.

www.independent.ie/life/travel/travel-n ... 96785.html

Quote : It appears the UA SFO-DUB has been pushed back again. I was due on the 26th March but been rebooked viva IAD

Looks bookable direct from the 27th March on their website

CABIN PRESSURE Taoiseach’s crunch talks with Aer Lingus after crew warned Irish flier will move base to England

www.thesun.ie/news/7664865/taoiseach-cr ... d-warning/

--

Aer Arann founder Ó Céidigh appointed as chairperson of the Shannon Group

Pádraig Ó Céidigh, the founder of Aer Arann, has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Shannon Group.

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/aer ... 96990.html

shamrock350 wrote:

Great news regarding Ryanair’s full return to Cork

Not entirely convinced the new EDI and MAN routes will perform in the long run at 3 weekly nor is it ideal for passengers but it does fill an immediate gap with Aer Lingus Regional still months away from even thinking about a return to Cork regional routes.

I agree, it is great to see 2 aircraft, year round. I can't quite remember if FR had been stationing 2 aircraft at Cork in the winter? I think it might have been 1 for STN and LGW, with the other routes being operated from the other end.
The BHX and EDI routes do seem quite low frequency, which will be OK for the VFR market but less good for the business market. I assume they are waiting to see what EI and Emerald will do. The ATR seemed better suited to the Cork-UK market, even with extremely low fares the ORK-LPL route has been in decline over the past decade while ORK-MAN went from 2 daily up to 4 daily on peak days in the summer. The often lousy timings might have something to do with it too.

OA260 wrote:

CABIN PRESSURE Taoiseach’s crunch talks with Aer Lingus after crew warned Irish flier will move base to England

http://www.thesun.ie/news/7664865/taois ... d-warning/

This must be one of the most poorly written articles I have tried to read in a while. I have no idea what they are trying to say here? It seems like there was concern from pilots around the time of the MAN base being launched. The headline implies that the Irish 'flier' is on the cusp of relocating to MAN, which the article does not support, from what I can decode?
I don't think I have ever seen an airline referred to as a flier? Flyer usually refers to a person in the process of flight, as opposed to the airline, as far as I (and google!) know. Even that is usually spelt with a y, not an i. Honestly, such journalism, I despair.

BrianDromey wrote:

shamrock350 wrote:

Great news regarding Ryanair’s full return to Cork

Not entirely convinced the new EDI and MAN routes will perform in the long run at 3 weekly nor is it ideal for passengers but it does fill an immediate gap with Aer Lingus Regional still months away from even thinking about a return to Cork regional routes.

I agree, it is great to see 2 aircraft, year round. I can't quite remember if FR had been stationing 2 aircraft at Cork in the winter? I think it might have been 1 for STN and LGW, with the other routes being operated from the other end.
The BHX and EDI routes do seem quite low frequency, which will be OK for the VFR market but less good for the business market. I assume they are waiting to see what EI and Emerald will do. The ATR seemed better suited to the Cork-UK market, even with extremely low fares the ORK-LPL route has been in decline over the past decade while ORK-MAN went from 2 daily up to 4 daily on peak days in the summer. The often lousy timings might have something to do with it too.

OA260 wrote:

CABIN PRESSURE Taoiseach’s crunch talks with Aer Lingus after crew warned Irish flier will move base to England

http://www.thesun.ie/news/7664865/taois ... d-warning/

This must be one of the most poorly written articles I have tried to read in a while. I have no idea what they are trying to say here? It seems like there was concern from pilots around the time of the MAN base being launched. The headline implies that the Irish 'flier' is on the cusp of relocating to MAN, which the article does not support, from what I can decode?
I don't think I have ever seen an airline referred to as a flier? Flyer usually refers to a person in the process of flight, as opposed to the airline, as far as I (and google!) know. Even that is usually spelt with a y, not an i. Honestly, such journalism, I despair.

Cork had x2 based year round, FR based the second over winter 19/20.

I note from FlightRadar that WAT has had Loganair flights to and from ABZ both yesterday and today.

Yesterday - LM891 departed WAT at 16:06 - ATR72-600, G-FBXB
Today - LM896 departed WAT at 13:39 - Saab 340, G-LGNB

I noted that a Loganair Saab 340 was also in WAT last week.

At this stage, it's been a number of years since Waterford Airport last had any scheduled flights, with VLM ending flights there in approximately 2016. Does anybody know why Loganair are flying into Waterford?

Hi EISG1129,
Thanks for sharing this info. Great to see flights at WAT. The ABZ flight history seems to show Cork/Aberdeen.. so must be related to a business travel requirement on that side of Cork.

The LM flights were operating to Cork before the runway closed for resurfacing. They are flying for the energy industry, meeting offshore helicopters at WAT to transfer those working on offshore drilling projects. Nice to be flying somewhere completely new!

New Shannon Group Chair Says Restoring Aer Lingus Cabin Crew Base Not ‘A Lost Cause’

www.clare.fm/news/new-shannon-group-cha ... ost-cause/

--

Ryanair to appeal after court backs EU order

Ryanair said today it would appeal a ruling by Europe's second-highest court rejecting its challenge against an EU order to repay millions of euros in illegal aid

https://amp.rte.ie/amp/1249724/

--

Good news for those who have Irish passports vaccinated in NI . They can now apply online for the DCC for travel .


Digital Covid-19 certs extended to Irish citizens vaccinated outside the EU
The online portal will first accept applications from Irish citizens who were vaccinated in Northern Ireland.

www.thejournal.ie/covid-19-certificates ... 021/?amp=1

The new Irish thread is now up and running: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1465303