Aer Lingus Regional begins selling flights ahead of take off

The new Aer Lingus Regional service began selling flights on Thursday ahead of a planned take off on St Patrick's Day.

Emerald Airlines, run by well-known aviation industry figure, Conor McCarthy, signed a deal with Aer Lingus to operate the larger carrier's regional franchise earlier this year.

The pair announced on Thursday that Emerald will begin flying 340 times a-week across 11 routes between Ireland and Britain from March 17th 2022. Tickets for the flights went on sale at the same time.

Emerald intends flying high-frequency routes including Dublin-Edinburgh and Dublin-Glasgow up to four times daily.

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The airline will re-establish flights from Ireland to British regional airports, including Bristol, Leeds, Newquay Cornwall, Exeter and the Isle of Man.

The announcement adds over 60 UK-US routes to the Aer Lingus network by connecting British regional airports to the airline's flights to the likes of New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Seattle, via Dublin.

Passengers

Lynne Embleton, Aer Lingus chief executive, noted that British passengers opting for these routes can clear US customs and immigration at Dublin, eliminating the need to do so when they land at their destination.

“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,” she added.

Emerald was originally due to take up the contract at the start of 2023, but agreed to work on bringing that forward as the franchise's previous operator, Stobart Air, folded in June.

Mr McCarthy said the airline was delighted to be able start flying ahead of schedule.

He added that the “time was right” to begin operations under the Aer Lingus Regional banner.

Mr McCarthy confirmed that the airline had established a subsidiary in Northern Ireland and was applying to the UK's Civil Aviation Authority for its licences.