LONDON – Aer Lingus has today marked a milestone: It celebrates one year of transatlantic operations out of Manchester Airport.
A year ago today, EI31 departed on its non-stop flight from the UK airport all of the way over to Barbados. Off the back of that, the airline then launched services to New York’s JFK on December 1, 2021, and Orlando on December 11, 2021.
In the last 12 months, the airline has operated 670 roundtrips across the Atlantic Ocean from Manchester, which is quite a big feat for the carrier.
Executive Comments…
Commenting on this milestone was Susanne Carberry, Aer Lingus’ Chief Commercial Officer:
“As direct transatlantic services from Manchester enter their second year, we are really pleased with the performance of the services.”
“Our confidence in the future will enable us to consolidate our position by offering high-quality service and direct, non-stop business and leisure travel options at competitive prices for travelers and holidaymakers to North America and the Caribbean from the North of England.”
“We are extremely proud of the whole Aer Lingus UK team who have worked so hard to make our services from Manchester such a success, and thank all our UK customers from the North of England for choosing to fly with Aer Lingus.”
Also commenting on the milestone was Mark Mitchell, the dnata Director for Air Supply:
“The launch of these long-haul routes from Manchester has been very welcomed by our dnata brands, our trade partners, and our customers. It has added much-needed and valuable air capacity across the Atlantic to key destinations from the North of England.”
“We look forward to working with Aer Lingus and Manchester Airport to support these flights as they develop new routes from the region in the future.”
The travel sector has also benefitted greatly from these operations, with David McLaren of USAirtours saying the following:
“In the most difficult and turbulent of times, Aer Lingus came to the market to fill a hole left by such a huge reduction in Manchester’s long-haul flying capacity.
“We quickly formed a trade partnership that allowed our sales from Manchester to the US and Caribbean to grow from strength to strength, even given the circumstances.
“It’s refreshing to work with an airline such as Aer Lingus that shares our goals and values, and we look forward to taking this relationship to an even higher level in the coming 12 months.
“We are very impressed with the booking flow, sales support, and account management – all we could ask of any airline.”
Also adding to this was Jonathon Woodall-Johnston, Hays Travel’s Chief Operating Officer:
“Congratulations to our partner, Aer Lingus, who is celebrating a year of flying from Manchester Airport.
“Hays Travel customers in the north of England have loved the ease of flying direct to New York and Orlando from Manchester, and we’re looking forward to many more jetting off from the northwest with Aer Lingus in the year ahead.’’
Overall…
Aer Lingus has quite clearly had a busy year operating out of Manchester Airport, with the benefits and successes clearly laid out to the carrier to enable a continuation of service.
This also bolsters Manchester Airport’s transatlantic offerings, especially with the plethora of carriers that they have in their arsenal that operate to the U.S and the Caribbean.
Looking ahead, especially with the transformation program in full effect, the airport will now want to look at getting frequencies expanded or welcoming new carriers into the business.
But for now, we shall see how the next 12 months go for Aer Lingus, especially with what could be a very busy Winter 2022 period and Summer 2023 season too.
