And when those subsidies were axed, the carrier had perforce to drop its services. The carried has relied on government subsidies to maintain routes to remote rural airstrips. It has not always been clear skies for Aer Arann though. But in 1998, Aer Arann spread its wings to establish a dominance in the regional market, using its smaller aircraft to pioneer thinner secondary routes that were of no interest to Aer Lingus. They provided short-hop services from the mainland to the islands in Galway Bay. For more than a quarter of a century after its founding in 1970, Aer Arann’s corporate horizons were limited to the Aran Islands. Virgin Atlantic’s new UK domestic flights, branded “Little Red,” are more green than red: The routes from London Heathrow to Aberdeen, Manchester and Edinburgh are in fact operated by Aer Lingus under a wet-lease arrangement with Virgin Atlantic.īook a flight with Aer Lingus Regional and the chances are that your flight will not be operated by Aer Lingus at all, but by another Irish airline: Aer Arann. And you’ll find Aer Lingus popping up most unexpectedly in other markets too. In recent weeks, for example, the company has opened new routes from Belfast City Airport to Mallorca, Málaga and Faro. It’s a big player in Northern Ireland too. Thrice has Ryanair sought to gobble up Aer Lingus, and thrice has Aer Lingus repelled the advances of the suitor.Īer Lingus is more than merely an airline of the Republic. And struggled even more to shake off predatory take-over bids from upstart Ryanair. Dating back to 1936, it has struggled to shake off its image as an old-style legacy flag carrier. Each deserves a look.Īer Lingus is by far the oldest of the airlines that fly the Irish flag.

But the Republic of Ireland has a trinity of other air carriers offering scheduled passenger services. Mention that you have just snapped up a cheap fare with an Irish airline, and folks will generally assume that you have been tackling Ryanair.

Fly the friendly Irish skies on Aer Lingus.

Aer lingus flight 101