Two of Ireland's finest carriers recently celebrated the first anniversary of their franchise partnership. On March 15th, 2022, Aer Lingus and Emerald Airlines took the first operational steps of their ten-year partnership with an inaugural flight, from Dublin to the Isle of Man, under the franchise name of Aer Lingus Regional.
The growth of Aer Lingus Regional: One year later
Although Aer Lingus and Emerald Airlines are celebrating one year of Aer Lingus Regional, the franchise partnership was initially meant to be launched this year instead of 2022. However, the two airlines decided to take advantage of the post-pandemic uplift in demand for air travel, and Aer Lingus Regional was established ten months in advance.
The franchise partnership airline is exclusively operated by Emerald and has been hugely significant for Aer Lingus thanks to the direct regional flight services it provides, particularly to the smaller, yet vital, UK markets. Aer Lingus Regional is also a beneficiary as many of its passengers often connect onwards to Aer Lingus' transatlantic services.
By passengers, Aer Lingus Regional feeds one in eight transatlantic travelers to the Irish flag carrier, supporting Dublin as the natural gateway to the US as passengers can avail of US immigration and pre-clearance at Dublin Airport, skipping lengthy immigration queues stateside.
Given Aer Lingus Regional's benefits, it's no surprise that the regional carrier has carried over one million passengers and operated more than 22,000 flights over the past year. Executive Chairman of Emerald Airlines, Conor McCarthy, celebrated the airline's anniversary as he said:
"What a year it has been! Starting our journey in the skies over 12 months ago, we have welcomed over 400 staff across our Dublin and Belfast bases. I want to thank our great team here at Emerald for their ongoing support and commitment, our partners at Aer Lingus, and our loyal customers for continuously choosing to fly with us - without you, this milestone would not be possible."
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Looking forward to another year of growth and expansion
After a successful year, Aer Lingus and Emerald Airlines are excited about the future of their franchise partnership as plans for growth are in place and well underway. And nothing quite spells an airline's growth like an expanded route network, with the carrier Aer Lingus Regional bringing new destinations for the heavily-anticipated summer schedule this year.
The regional carrier currently offers 23 routes, but starting March 26th, it will operate 30 routes from across nearly 20 destinations in Ireland, the UK, the Channel Islands, and Northern France.
While the additional routes include a couple from the airline's winter schedule - which were extended into the summer due to high demand, Aer Lingus Regional will also launch a couple of new routes from Belfast City Airport, such as flight services to Jersey and Newquay. Ciarán Smith, Head of Commercial at Emerald Airlines, said,
"We are also pleased to bolster our Belfast schedule by adding two sought-after routes; Newquay and Jersey. We anticipate these new routes to be popular amongst those traveling for business and leisure purposes, and we look forward to providing that increased connectivity to and from Belfast.”
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Bottom line
It seems undisputed that choosing to advance the launch of Aer Lingus Regional by several months was indeed one of the wisest business decisions made by Aer Lingus and Emerald Airlines. Hopefully, the young regional carrier's overall success and rapid growth will continue for many more years to come.