Aer Lingus and Emerald Airlines have announced plans to accelerate the launch of Aer Lingus Regional routes with tickets now on sale. Under a franchise agreement, Emerald Airlines will operate as Aer Lingus Regional from March 17, 2022.
On Thursday (December 16, 2021), Aer Lingus announced an acceleration of the launch of regional routes, with Emerald Airlines operating under a franchise agreement as Aer Lingus Regional from March 17, 2022. Emerald will operate over 340 weekly flights across 11 routes with fares from €29.99 and tickets are currently on sale. High frequency routes such as service from Dublin to Edinburgh and Glasgow will operate up to four times daily, and services will be re-established to regional points across the UK including Newquay Cornwall, Exeter and Isle of Man. The announcement also adds over 60 UK-US routes on the Aer Lingus network connecting via Dublin to New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Seattle.
In Thursday’s announcement, Aer Lingus’ CEO, Lynne Embleton, said,
“Today is about opportunities. Opportunities for our UK customers to connect with ease to Aer Lingus flights to North America and to take advantage of the US preclearance facility. Opportunities for customers across UK and Ireland as we develop the Aer Lingus regional network. And opportunities for the Irish economy and Irish aviation as we expand our hub at Dublin. It has been a pleasure to work with the team at Emerald Airlines to accelerate this partnership and start operations 10 months ahead of the original schedule. We are all looking forward to welcoming our customers on-board Aer Lingus Regional services, operated by Emerald Airlines.”
Also commenting on the accelerated launch of Aer Lingus Regional, Emerald Airlines’ CEO, Conor McCarthy, said,
“We’re delighted to be able to commence operations under our franchise agreement with Aer Lingus well ahead of plan in line with the recovering customer demand. The time is right for Emerald Airlines to begin operations under the Aer Lingus Regional brand and we truly look forward to welcoming our customers onboard our flights as soon as February next.
“Our customer-focused schedules will offer choice, convenience and great value for both regional and transatlantic air travel. This announcement is a great boost for connectivity from Ireland to the U.K, including cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Isle of Man, Newcastle, Bristol, and Leeds. Emerald Airlines will be offering a high-frequency schedule with convenient flight timings to facilitate both business and leisure passengers.
“Emerald has also established an airline company in Northern Ireland (Emerald Airlines UK Ltd) and has applied to the UK CAA for a UK AOC and Operating License. We are very confident that this will result in long-term connectivity being maintained across the Irish Sea and will boost business and leisure travel between Northern Ireland and Britain. We have already reached a long-term commercial agreement with George Best Belfast City Airport and look forward to connecting Belfast to many cities in the UK as soon as possible in 2022. Further details, routes and launch dates in relation to the Belfast operation will be announced in the New Year.”
Emerald Airlines continues the expansion of their fleet of ATR72-600s, the latest generation of turboprop aircraft, offering exceptional economic performance, while emitting up to 40 percent less CO2 on short regional flights.
Founded in 1936, Aer Lingus is the national carrier of Ireland. For summer 2022, the carrier will operate over 100 routes, flying over 71 direct routes to 62 destinations from Ireland to the UK and Europe. The carrier will also operate 16 transatlantic routes from Dublin and Manchester to destinations in North America and the Caribbean. Aer Lingus is a member of the International Airlines Group (IAG), one of the world’s largest airline consortiums.
Source: Aer Lingus