Aer Lingus continues to expand its Belfast City Airport operation, with more capacity and flights being added from the 31st of October.
Aer Lingus Airbus A320 taking off- Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
The airline will add extra capacity to the following routes from Belfast City Airport:
- London Heathrow will gain a further two services, on Monday and Saturday, bringing it to the full 21 flights per week.
- Manchester will increase from its current daily schedule to twice-daily flights. Flight EI302 will connect at Manchester with Aer Lingus’ Manchester Airport to Barbados service from 3rd November, whilst
- Edinburgh will operate 11 flights per week, daily on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and twice daily on Thursdays, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Lead-in fares to London Heathrow, start from £39.99, whilst fares to Manchester and Edinburgh start from £29.99 one way. For those wanting to fly onward from Manchester, Barbados starts at £259 one-way, New York-JFK starts at £189 one-way – as does Orlando.
Services will be operated by Aer Lingus mainline aircraft, as Emerald Airways is still in the process of preparing to commence services.
In Quotes
Susanne Carberry, Chief Customer Officer at Aer Lingus, said:
“We are delighted to be able to provide a significant increase in frequency from Belfast to London Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh and be able to reconnect businesses, as well as friends and families in the UK that have been kept apart for too long. We are also excited to be able to connect Northern Irish customers with our new Manchester routes to Barbados, New York, JFK and Orlando.
Safety remains our priority at Aer Lingus and we continue to implement measures such as mask requirements and additional cleaning, as has been in practice across the airline for the past year. We are also committed to making the flight experience as comfortable as possible and customers can enjoy our in-flight food, drink and entertainment services on board.”
Katy Best, Commercial Director at Belfast City Airport, said:
“This is a really strong schedule from Aer Lingus that will serve passengers extremely well throughout the winter months as they resume business travel and embark on more non-essential leisure trips.
“With a twice daily service to Manchester, passengers can benefit from same-day travel options, and the return to pre-pandemic frequency for the Heathrow service is a reflection of the increased demand for travel to and from London.
“Aer Lingus offers an excellent service with which our passengers are familiar, and enjoy peace of mind that additional safety measures continue to be in place both on board and in the terminal.”
Building back Belfast City Airport connectivity
With Ryanair taking its toys away from Belfast City Airport in protest of Air Passenger Duty fees, Belfast City Airport has been left to Britsh Airways, Aer Lingus, Eastern, easyJet and KLM – with the focus being domestic traffic.
Meanwhile, at Belfast International Airport, international traffic is at the fore, with Jet2, easyJet, TUI Airways and Wizz Air having the lions share of the traffic (the United Airlines transatlantic service long gone at this point).
As one airline disappears, it seems that Aer Lingus is trying to plug gaps in the schedules, and offering more passenger options for travelling from Belfast City Airport.
It remains to be seen how high the lead-in prices can go, with completion in the region reducing.
Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, featuring in-depth coverage, unique research, as well as the humour and madness as I only know how to deliver.
Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can follow me on Instagram too!
Also remember that we are part of the BoardingArea community, bringing you the latest frequent flyer news from around the world.
DN: CB-06
