The Irish airline Aer Lingus hopes to start operating three new routes from the UK to the United States (Boston, New York and Orlando) in the summer of 2021. It will use Airbus A330-300 and A321LR aircraft.
Aer Lingus (UK) Ltd hopes to fly from Manchester to Boston (BOS), New York John F Kennedy (JFK) and Orlando (MCO)
These flights cannot be operated without the approval of the UK and US authorities. Aer Lingus has applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to operate services to Boston (BOS), New York's John F Kennedy (JFK) and Orlando (MCO) with two Airbus A330-300s.
Two A321LRs will also be used, to be delivered in February and March 2021 respectively.
A new subsidiary called Aer Lingus (UK) Ltd has been set up to operate these flights. The UK Civil Aviation Authority is due to issue an air operator's certificate in the first quarter of 2021. Aer Lingus (UK) Ltd will be based at Manchester Airport (MAN) and the first flights will be to destinations in the United States.
Flights between the United Kingdom and the United States will be operated under the name Aer Lingus and will have the EI code.
Aer Lingus speculates on the place left vacant in Manchester by the late Thomas Cook Airline. In the request for a flight permit sent to DOT, the Irish air carrier states that in the summer of 2021, Virgin Atlantic could hold a monopoly on flights from Manchester to the US with a market share of 70%. So clearly there would be room for a second operator to encourage competition.
In the first year of flights, Aer Lingus (UK) anticipates the provision of additional flight options on the Manchester-New York (JFK) and Manchester-Orlando routes and the provision of services on a single route currently not served, Manchester-Boston.
Aer Lingus hopes to receive approval to be able to operate a daily flight from Manchester to New York and Boston. Operations between Machester and Orlando could be daily during the summer and up to 4 flights a week in the winter season. From the requests made, we can conclude that Aer Lingus has reserved 1500 slots in Manchester.
According to OAG Schedules Analyzer, there are currently no non-stop flights between Manchester and destinations in the United States. However, Virgin Atlantic resumed flight from the airport on December 5 after a nine-month hiatus and is scheduled to relaunch operations to Atlanta (ATL) and JFK on December 28. Flights between Manchester and Orlando are set to resume on January 7.
We mention that the USA and Great Britain officially signed a new Open Skies agreement on November 17, ensuring that air transport between countries without problems in a post-Brexit environment.