Aer Lingus has undergone an amazing restructuring over the past few years, whereby they’ve responsibly added new routes and overhauled their products. This was largely under the leadership of Christoph Mueller, who is one of the brightest guys in the airline industry.
Continue reading: Aer Lingus Doesn’t Want Other Airlines Using Dublin Airport Resources
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I bet that the Ethiopian CEO is laughing and he might do another flight each week just to infuriate Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus...why did you hire this guy in the first place?
Given the history btw Ethiopia and Italy i'm suprised theyre putting more focus in Ireland and not Italy as i imagine theres a decent amount of o/d traffic btw the two countries.
@ Anon,
It is interesting! While not strictly "points" related, I think a lot of us are Avgeeks and love a good airplane/airport news-gossip article...
RR
MIA
Airline CEOs seem to be more capable than non-airline ones of stuffing their foot in their mouth.
Very interesting! I was just thinking, before I read the comments, how perfectly lovely it is to read commonsense commentary on the airline industry that isn't afraid to use the word "crybaby".
I wonder why they switched the stops to Dublin if they don't have 5th freedom rights on DUB-IAD/YYZ, when they had them in FCO. Also, if they don't have 5th freedom rights, why not fly it nonstop as the aircraft has the range.
@ Abdel Rahim Abdallah -- I'm guessing it was ultimately cheaper to just "consolidate" operations at one airport, given that they're flying through Dublin anyway. Or more than likely they got some sort of good deal from the airport. As far as nonstop flights go, keep in mind that the issue isn't the distance as such, but rather Addis Ababa's altitude, which makes it impossible to operate a nonstop flight to North America with a full payload.
Interesting piece and showing that Ben has a good grasp on the issue, however a few other pertinent facts should be added
My understanding is that the DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) made Ethiopian a great offer on the fuel stop flights.
Ethiopian, as Ben stated, are unable to operate full loads and fuel fuel because of the heat & height of Addis Airport
The Addis-Dublin-LAX flights will be availing eventually of USCBP facility at Dublin, thus will make for a smoother arrival for passengers in LAX. The facility at Dublin is currently allowing Aer Lingus (Aer Lingus Regional / Stobart Air) siphon of traffic from the UK, that previously would have gone through London Heathrow to the US. Aer Lingus are aggressive in their pricing for passengers traveling from the UK / Europe to the US using Dublin as a hub
Personally I reckon it is only a matter of time before more Ethiopian flights are given 5th freedom rights at Dublin
As Stephen Kavanagh in Aer Lingus sheds tears and complains about Ethiopian, he has now stated that the company is considering starting a LAX service from Dublin. Laughable at best, as Aer Lingus has a track record of starting / stopping routes to the US on a regular basis. Case in point .. the recently started Washington route is being advertised as a "new route", even though it was tried in the recent past & the same happened with San Francisco
Revisited this story
Out of curiosity, I punched the dates 30th August to 6th September 2015 Cheapest ticket roundtrip
Aer Lingus €945 one stop DUB - JFK - onto LAX with Jet Blue and back
Ethiopian Airlines €672 direct round trip