Aer Lingus - serving Birmingham Airport continuously for sixty years!! - celebrating 1949 to 2009

Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

Sixty years ago today - on Monday 2 May 1949 - Aer Lingus

opened a direct passenger service between Dublin

and Birmingham a route that they continue to operate

to this day!

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Needless to say this makes Aer Lingus the longest

established airline at BHX having served the airport

for continuously sixty of its seventy years

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Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

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The first flight to Dublin in 1949 was operated by Douglas DC 3 Dakota EI-ACL "St Declan" at an initial frequency of one return flight each weekday. Flight AT270 arrived at 1050 and flight AT271 departed back to Dublin at 1120. Code "EI" was not introduced until 1950. . Aer Lingus currently serve Dublin three times a day and Cork 4 times a week with all flights operated by (state of the art) Airbus A320's .

The Aer Lingus timetable for summer 1988 when they served Brussels in addition to Dublin and Cork. They have

also served Knock

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Over the years Aer Lingus have used a variety of different aircraft

types to Birmingham - many of which are illustrated below - including

Fokker Friendship's, Vickers Viscount's, BAC 1-11's, Boeing 737's,

Boeing 707/720's and BAe 146's while additional services for the

annual Cheltenham Gold Cup airlift have been flown by their wide

bodied Airbus A330's and Boeing 747's

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. Carvair's operated freight flights in the 1960's, some of which

carried cars to Bristol then positioned to Birmingham to take

freight back to Dublin - EI-ANJ departs from what

is now the Elmdon apron

. Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

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DC 3 Dakota were used on the Dublin-Birmingham route

for ten years until the winter of 1959 when they were replaced

by new twin turbo prop Fokker F 27 Friendships

EI-AKB is seen in 1965

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Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

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Vickers Viscount 800's were introduced onto the route in 1966

EI-AJI is seen on the Elmdon apron in 1968

. Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

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Viscount EI-AJK was used as a freighter and is parked

in front of Hangar 2 in 1968

.Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

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Following the opening of the runway extension in April 1967

Boeing 707's and 720's were used at peak times - EI-ALA

a Boeing 720 touches down on Runway 33

. Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

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A Boeing 707 on the Elmdon apron with the tower behind

. Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

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From the 1970's Aer Lingus operated a short haul jet

fleet of BAC 1-11's and Boeing 737's....

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Photo: Ron Kosys

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.... and also introduced a new colour scheme

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Photo: Ron Kosys

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Photo: Ron Kosys

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Photo: Ron Kosys

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In the early 1990's the route was taken over by subsidiary

Aer Lingus Commuter using first Fokker 50's....

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.... and then BAe 146's

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The mid 1990's saw the return of the Boeing 737's

- this time "next generation" -500's....

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Photo: Ron Kosys

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.... some of which were painted in a special scheme to advertise

their new www site at aerlingus.com....

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. .... and Boeing 737-400's - this one is in another

version of the dot.com colour scheme

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Photo: Ron Kosys

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Following the disposal of the Boeing 737's all flights are now

operated by Airbus A320's with the occasional visit by 321's

.

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Aer Lingus launch new flights on their Dublin to Birmingham route - now upto six services a day!!

Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Aer Arann, has expanded services to Birmingham

Airport with the launch of its first flight from Dublin on Saturday 1 June 2013

The airline will now operate three daily return flights to Birmingham from Dublin

Airport and aims to fly up to 65,000 extra passengers on the route this year

 

Birmingham is a key destination on the Aer Lingus Regional network with a 30% increase

in passenger numbers to Birmingham last year - over 100,000 passengers flew to Birmingham

on Aer Lingus Regional routes from Cork, Shannon and Ireland West Airport Knock in 2012

Combined with existing Aer Lingus mainline services to Birmingham, these new services will

double the number of flights to Birmingham from Dublin per day - one of the busiest routes

on the Ireland to UK route network

 

Aer Lingus Regional Cabin Crew Nick Beggs and Jim McCormack celebrate with the first passengers on their inaugural
flight to Birmingham, by giving Ciara Gallagher and Ronan O'Grady two free flights on the Dublin to Birmingham route

 Aer Arann’s Chief Commercial Officer, Simon Fagan said that the addition of this route means

that there is now a "shuttle service" for business passengers flying between Ireland and

Birmingham. "We noticed that a large part of the 30% increase in passenger numbers last

year were passengers flying for business between these two cities. With the launch of Dublin

Birmingham today we are now essentially providing a shuttle service with a flight going every

two hours, both morning and evening - 20 flights a day between Birmingham and Ireland

"The additional flights will further facilitate connectivity to Aer Lingus services to the US,

through Dublin. Birmingham-based passengers can connect to the US via Dublin and avail

of security and customs pre-clearance in Dublin airport - Ireland is the only country in Europe

to offer passport and customs pre-clearance to US destinations"

  

As is part of the airline’s "new beginning" strategy, which aims to position Aer Arann among

Europe’s top tier of regional airlines, the airline recently collected the first of eight new

ATR 72-600 aircraft in a contract valued at almost €144 million. The first of the new aircraft

will operate the Dublin to Birmingham route

Commenting on the first flight, Birmingham Airport’s CEO, Paul Kehoe said: "This expansion

to Dublin from Birmingham will give passengers far greater flexibility and choice with this

established airline brand. Irish routes are extremely popular for both business and leisure

travel from Birmingham and we’re delighted that Aer Lingus Regional has added a further

three daily flights to provide this shuttle service between the two cities"

 www.aerlingus.com

Monday 3 June 2013

Aer Lingus to increase their Birmingham to Dublin service up to six flights a day from June 2013

Aer Lingus are planning to increase their Birmingham to Dublin service up to
to six flights a day every weekday with effect from Monday 3 June 2013....

.... from that date they will introduce a 0715 departure from Birmingham to
Dublin operated by a night stopping Aer Lingus Regional ATR 72 which will also
operate two further additional daily departures from BHX at 1045 and 1845

The other three daily flights from Birmingham to Dublin will continued to be
operated by Airbus 320's with the first rotation of the day operating slightly
later to give a better spread of morning departures to Dublin which will then
be at 0715, 0850 and 1045

Aer Lingus are planning to increase their transatlantic flights from Dublin this
year and are looking to feed more passengers from the UK - Dublin Airport offers
pre-clearance of US Customs and Immigration so is a fast way "into" the USA
- and the additional flights are timed to offer good connections from/to BHX

 

The Aer Lingus Regional ATR 72 flights are operated on their behalf by Aer Arann
and this franchise agreement has now been extended until 2022 as part of the
deal to acquire a fleet of new ATR 72-600's the deliveries of which start in May 2013

Aer Lingus Regional/Aer Arann ATR 72's will continue to operate from Birmingham
to Cork, twice daily, and Knock and Shannon - both daily

 www.aerlingus.com

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Aer Lingus Regional operate inaugural flight from Birmingham Airport to Knock

Aer Lingus Regional/Aer Arann ATR 72 EI-REL operated

their inaugural flight to Knock today/Monday 11 June 2012
less than four weeks after they announced the new service
and seamlessly taking over the route from bmibaby
who operated their final service yesterday/Sunday
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Commenting on the launch of the service, Aer Arann’s
Interim Chief Executive Sean Brogan said, “We are delighted
to commence our Aer Lingus Regional Birmingham to
Ireland West Airport Knock service today. We recognise
the vital importance of regional air connectivity and the
key role that this air link to and from Birmingham
provides for business, tourism and leisure travel. We
look forward to working with our partners in Birmingham
Airport to ensure that this route continues to be a success"

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Welcoming the launch of the service, Aer Lingus Director
of Communications, Declan Kearney said, "Aer Lingus
is delighted to add the Birmingham to Ireland West Airport
Knock route to its network. We look forward to welcoming
more and more customers on board this service from today
and into the future"
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Paul Kehoe, CEO, Birmingham Airport, added, "The Midlands
is home to many thousands of Irish descendants so we’re
confident that today’s launch will be welcomed by those
wanting to visit friends and relatives in both Birmingham
and Knock, as well as the business community who need
to access the Midlands and County Mayo"
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Aer Lingus Regional/Aer Arann flights from Birmingham
to Knock start from €29.99 one way including taxes
and are available for booking on at
www.aerlingus.com
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Aer Lingus schedule to Knock from Monday 11 June 2012
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Flight EI 3501 departs BHX daily to Knock at 0920
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Flight EI 3502 arrives BHX daily from Knock at 1255
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All flights operated by AT7
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Monday 11 June 2012

Aer Lingus Regional to operate new daily service to Ireland West Airport Knock

Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Aer Arann, today/Thursday
announced it is to open a new daily service from Birmingham
to Ireland West Airport Knock on Monday 11 June 2012 - the
day after the existing bmibaby service to Knock ends
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Commenting on the announcement, Aer Arann Interim
Chief Executive Sean Brogan said, "We are delighted to
add the Birmingham-Knock route to our network. We’re
confident that there will be strong demand from both
business and leisure travellers for direct, convenient
and cost effective access from the West of Ireland to
Great Britain’s second largest city"

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Welcoming the announcement, Aer Lingus Chief
Commercial Officer Stephen Kavanagh said, “Aer Lingus
is delighted be extending its Aer Lingus Regional network
to include Birmingham-Knock. The addition of this
new service further demonstrates the continued
success of the Aer Lingus Regional franchise"
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Martyn Lloyd, Air Services Development Director for
Birmingham Airport, said, “This is great news for the
Midlands’ business and leisure passenger and we look
forward to the new service starting this summer"

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Flights from Birmingham to Ireland West Airport Knock

start from £29.99 one way including taxes and go on
sale on Friday 18th May 2012 at -
www.aerlingus.com
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Aer Lingus schedule to Knock from Monday 11 June 2012
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Flight EI 3501 departs BHX daily to Knock at 0920
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Flight EI 3502 arrives BHX daily from Knock at 1255
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All flights operated by AT7
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Thursday 17 May 2012

Aer Lingus Regional to Shannon

Aer Lingus Regional have announced that they will be commencing

a 6 times weekly Shannon to BHX service on Thursday 1 July 2010

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These flights will be operated by an Aer Arran ATR 72 in Aer Lingus

Regional colours as part of the new franchise agreement between

the two operators

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This route was last served by Ryanair who have recently reduced

their operation from Shannon
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Monday 31 May 2010

Aer Lingus celebrates 60 years of flying between Dublin and Birmingham Airport

The Douglas DC-3 aircraft which operated the first Aer Lingus flight
to Birmingham Photo: Will Blunt, Global Air Image Photo Archive

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Today Aer Lingus celebrates 60 years of flying between Dublin
and Birmingham. On Monday May 2nd 1949, a Douglas DC–3
aircraft with 26 seats and bearing the name “St Declan” left
Dublin Airport bound for Elmdon Airport, Birmingham
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Fares at the time were £6-0-0 single, £10-16-0 return and £9-0-0

excursion return. In 1949, the Dublin to Birmingham service operated

on week-days (in those days defined as daily except Sunday). It

carried in excess of 10,000 passengers in its first year of service
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"This is an important day in the history of Aer Lingus and our

evolution from a single week-day flight with a capacity for 26

passengers in 1949, to today where four A320 aircraft with a

capacity of 174 seats take to the skies four times daily. We are very

proud of our long standing association with our colleagues at

Birmingham and we look forward to the next 60 years flying,"

said Aer Lingus Corporate Affairs Director, Enda Corneille

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Commenting on the occasion Paul Kehoe, Birmingham International

Airport's CEO, said, "2009 is a very special year as not only is it 60

years since Aer Lingus started its operations from Birmingham, it's

also 70 years since the Airport opened its doors and 25 years of

operating from the current site. We are therefore delighted to be

sending our congratulations to the airline that has had the longest

continuous standing relationship with Birmingham Airport and we

look forward to working with the team for many more years"
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Aer Lingus has a long history of flying to the UK, Birmingham was

the fifth destination in Britain to be served by Aer Lingus, the other

cities included London, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow

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Aer Lingus currently serve Dublin 3 times daily Cork 4 times a week
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www.aerlingus.com
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Saturday 2 May 2009