Aer Lingus confirmed a 10-year agreement with Emerald Airlines to operate its regional franchise on August 4, 2021. The Chief Executive Officer of Emerald Airlines, Conor McCarthy is hoping that the airlines will fly about two million passengers a year on the agreed regional routes services initiating from January 1, 2023.
Emerald Airlines will operate its ATR turboprop aircrafts associated with Aer Lingus branding and livery, covering the regional flights between the island of Ireland including the regional airports at the UK, Isle of Man between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Jersey.
18 Months Due Agreement
Although Aer Lingus and Emerald Airlines have reached an agreement, the contract is not due to commence for 18 months. However, Aer Lingus continues to work closely with the Irish carrier to evaluate an earlier contract start date for the service as Stobart Air started ceasing its operations.
The agreement between Aer and Emerald is expected to support Aer Lingus’s Dublin-hub strategy by connecting the UK provincial airports to North American with Dublin as a center point. The deal will establish connectivity between islands of Ireland with Regional British airports, Isle of man, and as far as Jersey with further network expansion modules in the near future.
Stobart Air Cancelation
Stobart Air, headquartered in Dublin, used to operate regional route services of Aer Lingus, however, due to unforeseen shut-down of the airlines, all regional networks of Aer Lingus were canceled. The shutdown of Stobart Air resulted in the termination of the agreements and operations between the two airlines since June , 2021.
After Stobart’s ceasing operations, Aer worked quickly to plan the replacement schedules on the regional routes as a stand-in service for the airline’s regional customers. Air has been transferring its customers on replacement flights to minimize the distribution caused by Stobart’s cancelation and when no replacement flights are scheduled, Aer is booking customers on the alternative flights.
Meanwhile, Aer Lingus has been operating six of 12 routes with its mainline, and BA CityFlyer is operating four additional routes with the operating agreement until the end of the summer period.
Bring Choice and Certainty To Customers
Speaking about the agreement, the CEO of Aer Lingus, Lynne Embleton, revealed how the agreement between Aer and Emerald Airlines marks a “new chapter” and brings “choice and certainty” to its customers. The airlines is looking forward to its partnership with Emerald to grow and develop Aer’s regional routes over the years.
Aer’s move to develop the Dublin airport as a hub between Europe and the US is hoped to create great connectivity between the nations, also significantly boosting aviation jobs.
CEO of Emerald, McCarthy also added that the duo-partnership will create a job opportunity for 400+ new staff members, which is definitely a great gameplan in a movement to recover the Irish aviation industry after the adverse economic lashes due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The agreement has been seen as a major development for the Irish aviation industry with perks to widen its tourism industry’s reach. The combined strength of both of the Irish airlines will offer optimized and cost-efficient connectivity from popular destinations across Ireland, UK, the US, and beyond to its customers.
Aer Lingus
The national airline of Ireland, Aer Lingus was established in 1936, it runs operations with 67 aircrafts on over 100 routes destinations in the UK, Europe, and 16 direct routes to North America. The national carrier is the only 4-star airlines that has received the Skytrax award, a reputed international air transport rating organization.
As a member of the International Airlines Group(IAG), Aer Lingus aims to become the leading value carrier operating across the North Atlantic with its smart approach to a profitable and sustainable short-haul network. As a part of IAG, Aer Lingus has also committed to achieving net-zero carbon emission by 2050 along with other members of IAG, the first airlines group to commit for the cause.
