Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus
IATA code :	EGG
ICAO code :	A
Call sign :	SHAMROCK
Founding:	1936
Seat:	Dublin , Ireland
Turnstile :	Belfast Cork Dublin London Heathrow
Home airport :	Dublin
Company form:	plc
ISIN :	IE00B1CMPN86
IATA prefix code :	053
Management:	Stephen Kavanagh ( CEO )
Sales:	1.7 billion € (2015)
Passenger volume:	10.1 million (2015)
Frequent Flyer Program :	AerClub
Fleet size:	56 (+ 16 orders)
Aims:	National and international
Website:	www.aerlingus.com

Aer Lingus [ ˈeɪr ˈlɪŋɡəs ] is Ireland's national airline based in Dublin and based at Dublin Airport . It is a subsidiary of the International Airlines Group . The official company logo is the shamrock .

history

Aer Lingus' Douglas DC-3 in 1949

Foundation and first years

Aer Lingus was on 22 May 1936 under the name of Aer Lingus Teoranta with a starting capital of 100,000 pounds sterling founded. The main shareholders were Irish entrepreneurs Sean O'Madhaigh and Thomas J. Flynn. The name Aer Lingus originated from a partial Anglicization of the Irish word aerloingeas ( ˈeːɾˌlɪŋɡəs ) (German "Luftflotte"). Sean Ó hUadhaigh was entrusted with the management of the company. The start of flight operations took place on May 27, 1936 with a six-seater De Havilland DH.84 Dragon , which was used on a line between the Baldonnel military airfield southwest of Dublin and Bristol in England .

In 1940 Aer Lingus moved to the new Dublin Airport north of the city and opened a connection to Liverpool with Douglas DC-3 . During the Second World War , all scheduled flights except a domestic connection to Shannon were suspended. On November 9, 1945, the company resumed its international traffic with a connection to London . With the entry into force of a new transport agreement between Ireland and Great Britain, Aer Lingus was able to significantly increase the number of its flights from Dublin to London from July 1, 1946. For this purpose, she ordered seven Vickers Vikings in autumn 1946 . In addition, from August 1, 1948, the company was able to open a new connection from Dublin to Glasgow via Belfast , and at the same time take up scheduled flights between Shannon and London.

Aerlínte Éireann Teoranta was founded in 1947 as a company for transatlantic flights to New York ; Due to financial problems, the service could not be started until 1958 with three Lockheed Super Constellations rented by the American company Seaboard And Western . On January 1, 1960 Aerlínte Éireann Teoranta was renamed Aer Lingus - Irish International Airlines .

In the 1940s and 1950s, Aer Lingus expanded its European route network to include connections to Brussels , Amsterdam and Rome , which were flown with Vickers Viscount 707 . Since then, the color green has been the company's trademark, and the first flight attendants were hired in 1945 . From 1952 four Bristol 170s were put into service.

The Aviation Traders ATL-98 , which Aer Lingus put into service in 1963 and which could transport up to five cars in addition to passengers, did not bring economic success.

Aer Lingus in the jet age

Vickers Viscount of Aer Lingus in 1963

Aer Lingus Boeing 747-100 in 1988

The jet age began for Aer Lingus on December 14, 1960, when three Boeing 720s were put into service on the routes to New York and Boston , but were replaced by the larger Boeing 707s as early as 1964 . On European routes, BAC 1-11 were used on the route between Dublin / Cork and Paris from 1965 . From 1965 onwards, the machines were painted again, showing a white cloverleaf on the vertical stabilizers and the words "Aer Lingus - International" above the windows; from 1974 the addition "International" was omitted.

The first Boeing 737-200s were used on the busy route between Dublin and London with great success, which is why machines of this type were soon used on all European routes operated by Aer Lingus.

From 1968, flights from Belfast in Northern Ireland to New York were set up, but despite good capacity utilization they were soon discontinued when the violent unrest in Northern Ireland began; they were only resumed via Shannon in the 1990s . From 1970 onwards, two Boeing 747-100s were initially used on the transatlantic routes of Aer Lingus , to which a third was later added. Because Aer Lingus was only able to use their Boeing 747s seasonally, they were also operated temporarily for other airlines in aircraft leasing , including Air Siam and Air Jamaica .

In the 1980s, Aer Lingus found itself in a serious crisis that could only be resolved by reorganizing the airline and renewing the fleet.

With Aer Lingus Commuter , a wholly-owned subsidiary founded in 1984, Aer Lingus flew to short-haul destinations in Ireland and England that were not served by jet aircraft , but with five Short 360s and six Fokker 50s built in Belfast . With the acquisition of the majority of shares in Aer Turas , Aer Lingus entered the air freight business in the mid-1980s . The BAC 1-11 and the Boeing 737-200 were completely replaced by the 737-300, -400 and -500 from the mid / late 1980s to 1992 . At Aer Lingus Commuter, which was incorporated into the parent company in 2001, four Saab 340B took the place of the aging Short 360.

After the Airbus A330 received ETOPS -120 approval on April 29, 1994 , this type of aircraft was able to flow an optimized and more economical route on long-haul connections. Aer Lingus was the first airline to use this type of aircraft according to ETOPS rules. Transatlantic routes were typically flown. The Airbus machines replaced the Boeing 767-300ER , which was only used from 1991 to 1994, and the 747-100, which had carried over eight million passengers across the Atlantic in 25 years.

2000s

Aer Lingus Boeing 737-400 in 1999

Aer Lingus is based in Dublin

As for almost all airlines, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 also resulted in a noticeable drop in bookings for Aer Lingus. The result was the suspension of certain routes, the shutdown of aircraft and layoffs. As a result, the company policy was reconsidered and at times oriented to low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet ; In the course of these efforts, the intra-European network was expanded and the price model adjusted. Flights to the USA, however, remained on offer. Privatizing the airline in the foreseeable future became an option.

In the summer of 2005, Aer Lingus received the Airline of the Year 2005 award from the Irish Minister of Transport, awarded annually by the Irish Chamber of Commerce's Aviation Council. She was honored with this award in 2003. The then chairman of Aer Lingus, John Sharman, accepted the award and saw it as recognition of the improved performance of his airline, which had recorded an increase of 18 percent in passenger bookings since the same point in time last year.

In May 2006 Aer Lingus announced in a press release that the company would leave the Oneworld aviation alliance in order to concentrate more on its own strengths in the future. Aer Lingus took this step on April 1, 2007.

In late August 2006, Aer Lingus announced it would go public in September. These were the London Stock Exchange and the Irish Stock Exchange in Dublin. The aim was to increase the capital in order to be able to add new destinations to the program.

On October 5, 2006, shortly after its stock market debut, Ryanair, also Irish, made a takeover offer of 1.5 billion euros for Aer Lingus. On June 27, 2007, the EU Commission prohibited the takeover of Aer Lingus by Ryanair due to the otherwise dominant market position, especially for flights to and from Dublin. However, Ryanair acquired a larger minority stake of 29.82 percent in Aer Lingus over time.

In December 2008, Ryanair made a second bid for Aer Lingus. They want to spend 748 million euros on the competitor, about half of the previous offer from 2006. Aer Lingus and most of its shareholders - including the Irish state - rejected the offer as too low. At the end of January 2009, Ryanair withdrew the offer.

In autumn 2009, the former flight director of TUI Travel , Christoph Müller, took over the position of CEO in order to bring the company, which had been hit by the economic crisis, back into the black. For this purpose, unprofitable routes were canceled and employees were subjected to a ten percent wage cut.

Since 2010

Aer Lingus Airbus A320-200 in retro livery

In January 2010, Aer Lingus signed an agreement with Aer Arann and operated twelve of Aer Lingus' regional routes under the Aer Lingus Regional brand . In 2010, after three-digit million losses in the previous two years, the company returned to profitability (after taxes).

Since the opening of the new Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport in November 2010, Aer Lingus has gradually moved its flights there; since spring 2011, Aer Lingus has only operated all flights from Terminal 2. In spring 2011 Aer Lingus celebrated its 75th company anniversary. On this occasion, a newly delivered Airbus A320-200 was given retro painting in the style of the 1960s. In 2011 Aer Lingus achieved an operating profit of 49.1 million euros and increased passenger numbers by 1.8 percent to 9.51 million.

On June 19, 2012, Ryanair announced that it would make a third attempt to acquire Aer Lingus. A total of 694 million euros were offered for the company. With regard to competition concerns that ultimately prevented the takeover attempt in 2006/2007, the takeover of British Midland Airways by the International Airlines Group , which was approved by the authorities, was pointed out . The following day, Aer Lingus issued a press release rejecting the Ryanair offer. The reason given was that Ryanair's offer was too low in view of Aer Lingus' profitability and the cash reserves of over 1 billion euros. In addition, reference was also made to competition law doubts. Both the decision of the EU Commission on the first takeover attempt and the ongoing investigation by the British competition authorities into the 29.82 percent stake held by Ryanair in Aer Lingus were mentioned. On February 27, 2013, the EU Commission prohibited the takeover by Ryanair once again under the EU Merger Regulation, as competition on 46 routes would be impeded.

In the third quarter of 2012, Aer Lingus signed both a code share and an interline agreement with Etihad Airways . Aer Lingus has since also had access to destinations in the Middle East , Asia , the Pacific region and Australia .

From March 2013, Aer Lingus operated for Virgin Atlantic in its brand identity with Airbus A320-200 feeder flights from London Heathrow to Manchester , Edinburgh and Aberdeen . The flights were suspended until March and September 2015 respectively.

In August 2013, Ryanair was obliged by the British competition authority to reduce its stake in Aer Lingus from almost 30 to 5 percent. After several unsuccessful attempts, this makes another attempt at takeover unlikely. Ryanair had already announced in July 2013 that it wanted to sell its shares in Aer Lingus, but preferentially to interested airlines from the EU. The latter has now also been banned by the British competition authorities. The head of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary , immediately announced an appeal against the decision.

After the German Christoph Müller switched to Malaysia Airlines , the previous Chief Strategy & Planning Officer Stephen Kavanagh became Head of Aer Lingus on March 1, 2015.

On May 26, 2015, the Irish government announced that it would sell its 25.11 percent stake in Aer Lingus to the International Airlines Group for around EUR 1.4 billion after IAG increased its previous offering and gave assurances had made connections between Dublin and London for seven years. For IAG, a prerequisite for the trade to take place is that Ryanair also sells its 29.82 percent stake to IAG. Aer Lingus' take-off and landing rights at London Heathrow are of particular interest to the IAG. On July 10, 2015, Ryanair announced that it would not oppose a takeover. Four days later, the European Commission also gave its approval, subject to a number of conditions. The companies are supposed to give up take-off or landing rights at London-Gatwick Airport so that there is still enough competition on the routes London – Dublin and London – Belfast. For long-haul passengers of competing airlines, Aer Lingus must continue to offer feeder flights from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Amsterdam, Shannon and Dublin. As of September 2015, 98.05% are owned by IAG; 1.95% in free float .

Destinations

Aer Lingus mainly serves cities, seasonally also vacation destinations, within Europe as well as in North America and the Middle East .

In the German-speaking area, there are flights to Berlin-Tegel , Düsseldorf , Frankfurt , Hamburg and Munich in Germany. Destinations are Vienna in Austria and Geneva and Zurich in Switzerland .

Code sharing

Codeshare agreements exist with British Airways , Etihad Airways , KLM , jetBlue , Stobart Air and United Airlines . An agreement is also planned with the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair .

fleet

Aer Lingus Airbus A320-200 in the old color scheme

Airbus A321-200 of Aer Lingus in the old color scheme

Current fleet

Aer Lingus Airbus A321LR

Airbus A330-300 of Aer Lingus

As of May 2020, the Aer Lingus fleet consists of 56 aircraft with an average age of 12.3 years:

Aircraft type	number	ordered	Remarks	Seats ( Business / Economy )	Average age (May 2020)
Airbus A320-200	34		EI-DEI and EI-DEO in Irish rugby team - , EI-DVM in retro special livery	174 (- / 174)	14.0 years
Airbus A321-200	03			212 (- / 212)	21.1 years
Airbus A321LR	04th	4th	leased from ALC ; Delivery expected in 2019; Replacement for 757-200	184 (16/186)	0.6 years
Airbus A321XLR		6th	Delivery from 2023	- open -
Airbus A330-200	4th0			266 (23/243) 271 (23/248) 273 (21/252)	18.0 years
Airbus A330-300	11	1		317 (30/287)	6.7 years
Airbus A350-900		5		- open -
total	56	16			12.3 years

Aer Lingus also owns a De Havilland Dragon , which was purchased in 1986 to mark the airline's fiftieth anniversary. This is used for sightseeing flights and at air shows. On January 17, 2019, Aer Lingus unveiled a new brand logo and livery. The new logo consists of a new font, an updated shamrock and a new color scheme. The new livery consists of a white fuselage and blue-green engines and stern. All aircraft should have this livery by 2021.

Former aircraft types

Aer Lingus Boeing 707-300C in 1970

In the past, Aer Lingus used the following types of aircraft:

Airbus A319-100 Airspeed AS 65 Consul Aviation Traders ATL-98 BAC 1-11 BAe 146-200 / 300 BAe Avro RJ85 Boeing 707-300C Boeing 720 Boeing 737-200 / 300/400/500 Boeing 747-100 Boeing 757-200 Boeing 767-200ER / 300ER

Bristol 170 Freighter De Havilland DH.84 Dragon Douglas DC-3 Fokker 50 Lockheed L-1011 TriStar Lockheed Super Constellation McDonnell Douglas MD-11 Saab 340 Vickers Viking Vickers Viscount

Incidents

From 1946 to January 2019, Aer Lingus suffered seven total aircraft losses. 87 people were killed in three of them. Extracts:

• On January 10, 1952, an Aer Lingus Douglas DC-3 / C-47B ( aircraft registration EI-AFL ) crashed on the way from London-Northolt Airport to Dublin. All 23 occupants, 20 passengers and three crew members were killed. The likely cause was extremely strong downdrafts on the leeward side of Snowdon Mountain .

• On June 22, 1967, a Vickers Viscount 800 ( EI-AOF ) had an accident during pilot training 15 km northwest of Dublin Airport . The machine crashed from a small height , presumably due to a stall . All three pilots on board were killed.

• On March 24, 1968, another Vickers Viscount of Aer Lingus (EI-AOM) crashed into the sea 3.1 km northeast of the Irish island of Tuskar Rock on the flight from Cork to London . The cause of the crash could never be clarified. All 61 occupants, 57 passengers and four crew members were killed (see also Aer Lingus flight 712 ) .

Trivia

• Aer Lingus was the first airline in the world to operate all three types of the second generation Boeing 737 (737-300 / -400 / -500) in the mid-1980s .
• From 1965 to 1997 Aer Lingus was a sponsor of the Aer Lingus Young Scientist Exhibition , which is now supported by a sub-organization of British Telecommunications .
• Aer Lingus only employed single stewardesses until 1970 . If a flight attendant married, she had to leave the company. It was not until 1978 that male cabin crew were also employed. Later, Aer Lingus became the second European company to employ women pilots and the first in the world to employ a woman as chief pilot.

See also

• List of airlines

Web links

Commons : Aer Lingus  - collection of images, videos and audio files

 Wikinews: Aer Lingus  - on the news

• Aer Lingus website (including English, German)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} iairgroup.com - Annual Reports (English), accessed on May 12, 2017
2. ^ Angela Wright, Margaret Linehan: Ireland: Tourism and Marketing . Blackhall, Dublin 2004, ISBN 9781842180785 , page 33.
3. ↑ Flight International, June 11, 1936 , accessed May 30, 2016
4. ↑ Flight International, August 20, 1936 (English), accessed May 30, 2016
5. ↑ Flight International, July 11, 1946 , accessed May 30, 2016
6. ^ Flight International, November 21, 1946 (English), accessed May 30, 2016
7. ^ Flight International, August 14, 1947 , accessed May 30, 2016
8. ↑ aerosecure.de - Aer Lingus safety profile (as of August 2007)
9. ↑ TYPE-CERTIFICATE DATA SHEET No. EASA.A.004. (PDF; 368 KiB) EASA , accessed on February 14, 2017 (English). 
10. ↑ Der Tagesspiegel - Brussels bans Ryanair Aer Lingus takeover
11. ↑ European Commission - Merger control: Commission prohibits planned takeover of Air Lingus by Ryanair, June 27, 2007
12. ↑ FliegerRevue June 2011, pp. 12–15, The flying clover leaf - Air Lingus moved into a new terminal in Dublin
13. ↑ airliners.de - Aer Lingus changes strategy, January 27, 2010
14. ↑ aerlingus.com - Dublin Airport Terminal 2 (English)
15. ↑ rte.ie - Aer Lingus hopes for steady growth , accessed on March 26, 2011
16. ↑ aero.de - Aer Lingus flies in operating profit in 2011, February 28, 2012
17. ↑ Flightglobal.com - Ryanair makes surprise bid for Aer Lingus, June 20, 2012 (English)
18. ↑ corporate.aerlingus.com - Statement regarding Ryanair Offer, June 20, 2012 (English)
19. ↑ European Commission - Merger Control: Commission prohibits planned takeover of Aer Lingus by Ryanair, February 27, 2013
20. ↑ aero.de - Aer Lingus and Etihad Airways cooperate, July 31, 2012
21. ↑ Bloomberg - bloomberg.com - Virgin Atlantic Names Aer Lingus as Short-Route Partner, December 10, 2012 (English)
22. ↑ airliners.de - Competition authority: Ryanair must reduce stake in Aer Lingus, August 28, 2013, accessed on August 29, 2013
23. ↑ austrianaviation.net - Ryanair reduces Aer Lingus share, August 28, 2013, accessed on August 29, 2013
24. ↑ Aer Lingus has found a new boss. In: aerotelegraph.com. February 16, 2015, accessed May 27, 2015 . 
25. ↑ Air Lingus takeover is getting closer. In: Handelsblatt . May 26, 2015, accessed May 27, 2015 . 
26. ↑ tagesschau - EU Commission approves takeover: Aer Lingus goes to British Airways, July 14, 2015 accessed on July 15, 2015
27. ↑ Standard Form TR-1. (PDF (171 KB)) Voting rights attached to shares - Article 12 (1) of directive 2004/109 / EC. (No longer available online.) Corporate.aerlingus.com, September 2, 2015, formerly in the original ; accessed on September 7, 2015 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
28. ↑ aerlingus.com - flight plans accessed on May 12, 2017
29. ↑ corporate.aerlingus.com - Our Partners , accessed on May 12, 2017
30. ↑ [1] accessed on September 25, 2017
31. ↑ ^{a b c} Aer Lingus Fleet Details and History. In: planespotters.net. May 20, 2020, accessed on May 20, 2020 . 
32. ↑ Airbus - Orders & deliveries , accessed on June 19, 2017
33. ↑ aerlingus.com - Fleet , accessed on May 12, 2017
34. ↑ EI-DEI Aer Lingus Airbus A320-214. In: planespotters.net. July 7, 2017, accessed September 11, 2019 . 
35. ↑ EI-DEO Aer Lingus Airbus A320-214. In: planespotters.net. October 14, 2017, accessed on September 11, 2019 . 
36. ↑ EI-DVM Aer Lingus Airbus A320-214. In: planespotters.net. February 16, 2018, accessed September 11, 2019 . 
37. ↑ Aer Lingus receives A321LR. Retrieved September 10, 2019 . 
38. ↑ airleasecorp.com - Air Lease Corporation Announces Lease Placement of Seven New Airbus A321neo LR Aircraft with Aer Lingus, March 6, 2017 , accessed June 19, 2017
39. ↑ Aer Lingus orders more A330s. In: flightglobal.com. November 2, 2018, accessed September 10, 2019 . 
40. ↑ De Haviland DH-84 Dragon 2 EI-ABI on planespotters.net , accessed on August 21, 2018
41. ↑ Aer Lingus reveals new livery. Retrieved September 10, 2019 . 
42. ↑ airfleets.net - Aer Lingus , accessed on May 12, 2017
43. ↑ Aer Lingus accident statistics , Aviation Safety Network , accessed on January 31, 2019.
44. ^ Accident report DC-3 EI-AFL , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 31, 2019.
45. ^ Accident report Viscount 800 EI-AOF , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on March 14, 2012.
46. ↑ Accident report Viscount 800 EI-AOM , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 31, 2019.