Aer Lingus Guide
Founded in April 1936, Aer Lingus was originally named Aerlinte Eireann. The airline took to the air with its first flights on 27 May 1936. Over the next twenty years, the airline began to serve more destinations, moving first into international service and finally into offering a limited amount of intercontinental flights. By 1960, Aer Lingus was providing jet services to North America, with the use of its newly acquired Boeing 720s. By the end of the decade, the airline was offering a number of flights to points in the United States and Canada. Through the remainder of the 20th century, Aer Lingus continued to incrementally add additional destinations. Today, the airline boasts a fleet of just over fifty aircraft that serve seventy destinations around the world.
Aer Lingus History & Information
Aer Lingus maintains its headquarters at Dublin Airport, but also has established bases at four other locations. The cities of Cork and Shannon are additional bases found in Ireland, while London Gatwick Airport and Belfast International Airport provide strategic bases of operations in the United Kingdom.
Aer Lingus Routes
The destinations served by Aer Lingus have expanded over the years to include a number of transatlantic and intercontinental flights. While many of the flights provide reliable service to points in Europe, other locations are also served on a seasonal basis. An example is the seasonal flight to Morocco, providing service to Al Massira Airport in Agadir.
Aer Lungus offers a number of summer flights to points in Europe as well. Destinations like Hamburg, Dubrovnik, and Athens are favourites of many holiday seekers, as is Naples, and La Rochelle France. For winter travellers, seasonal flights to the city of Salzburg in Austria are also available.
Year round flights to many cities around Europe are also a part of the services offered by Aer Lingus. Popular destinations like Brussels and Vienna are provided with regular flights, as in Budapest in Hungary and Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Aer Lingus also has regular flights to and from the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, the Berlin-Schonefeld Airport in Berlin, and Fiumicino Airport in Rome.
The United Kingdom is also a high priority for Aer Lingus. The airline offers flights to Birmingham International Airport, Edinburgh Airport, and Glasgow International Airport. Two airports in London receive Aer Lingus flights: London Gatwick Airport and London Heathrow Airport.
Some of the most popular cities in Spain also have the benefit of regular Aer Lingus flights. Along with Madrid, Barcelona, and Bilbao, the airline offers flights to Lanzarote Airport in Lanzarote, Palma de Mallorca Airport in Palma de Mallorca, and Lavacolla Airport in Santiago de Compostela.
Aer Lingus also offers several flights to various cities along the eastern seaboard of the United States. The longest running of these is the flight to New York City, arriving and departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport. Logan International Airport in Boston is also among the Aer Lingus roster of destinations. Dulles International Airport enjoys Aer Lingus service that serves travellers bound for Washington,DC, while travellers seeking a holiday in warm and sunny Orlando, Florida arrive and depart from Orlando International Airport. To round out services to the United States, Aer Lingus also has regular flights to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.
The Aer Lingus Fleet
Today, the Aer Lingus fleet is composed of a number of Airbus aircraft, allowing the airline to offer quality Business and Economy class flights to all of its forty-four locations. Many of the crafts offer such amenities as audio entertainment, in flight movies for the longer flights, and a variety of meal options. The airline's Gold Circle Club allows frequent travellers to accumulate points as well as enjoy a range of amenities. These include priority baggage handling, complimentary upgrades, guaranteed flight booking, and personalised luggage tags.
Additional Information
One of the distinguishing characteristics of flying with Aer Lingus is the range of food options on longer flights. The meal choices include selections for people with specific dietary needs, including diabetics, those who are gluten intolerant and passengers who require low sodium fare. Vegetarian meals are also available upon request.