Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus is the flag carrier airline of Ireland.

= History =

Aer Lingus in British Columbia
Aer Lingus began operations to British Columbia in 1950 with a weekly service between Dublin and Vancouver via Toronto, Canada using Lockheed L-749 Constellations. Discontinued in 1957, it wasn't until 1969 that direct flights between BC and Ireland resumed: in the spring of that year, Aer Lingus began a weekly non-stop between Dublin and Vancouver using Boeing 707-320 jetliners.

In the summer of 1977, Aer Lingus piloted a promotional programme in the hopes of luring London-bound travellers away from established competitors like Inter-Dominion, Air BC, and British Airways by offering a Vancouver–Dublin–London and return ticket to which, for only £10 more, a traveller could add a three-day stopover in Dublin on either leg, with accomodations in Dublin provided at no charge; these flights operated twice a week in each direction. Deemed a success, the promotion continued until 1991.

From 1984, a third weekly flight was introduced using Boeing 747 jumbo jets; when Aer Lingus retired its 707s in 1986, the service was cut back to one weekly flight, the rationale being that the much larger 747 could operate more economically by carrying more passengers on fewer flights. Jumbo service was short-lived, however - although passengers liked the airplane, the reduced flexibility of only one weekly flight led to travellers opting for other carriers, and in 1989 the 747s were replaced on the BC service by the Lockheed L1011, and in the following year a second flight was added, offering Wednesday and Friday departures from Vancouver. L1011 operations on the Vancouver route ended in 1998, when they were briefly replaced by another trijet, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11. Trijet service ended in 2001 when Aer Lingus introduced the Airbus A330 which it uses to this day between Vancouver and Dublin.

= Fleet =

Current

 * Airbus A320-200
 * Airbus A321-200
 * Airbus A321LR
 * Airbus A321XLR (to be delivered from 2023)
 * Airbus A330-200
 * Airbus A330-300
 * Avro RJ85

Transatlantic fleet

 * Boeing 707-320 (1964-1986)
 * Boeing 720 (1960–1971)
 * Boeing 747-100 (1976–1995)
 * Boeing 757-200 (2015–2020, leased)
 * Boeing 767-200ER (2016, leased)
 * Boeing 767-300ER (1991–1994, leased)
 * Lockheed L-749 Constellation (1948–1959)
 * Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation (1958–1960)
 * Lockheed L1011 (1989–1998)
 * McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (1998–2001)

European and commuter fleet

 * Airbus A319-100 (2011–2016)
 * Airspeed Consul (1948–1950)
 * ATL Carvair (1963–1968)
 * BAC One-Eleven (1965-1990)
 * British Aerospace BAe 146-300 (1995–2006)
 * Boeing 737-200 (1969–1992)
 * Boeing 737-300 (1987–1993)
 * Boeing 737-400 (1989–2005)
 * Boeing 737-500 (1990–2005)
 * De Havilland DH.84 Dragon (1936–1938)
 * De Havilland DH.86 Express (1936–1946)
 * De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide (1938–1940)
 * Douglas DC-3 (1940–1964)
 * Fokker F27 (1958–1966)
 * Fokker 50 (1989–2001)
 * Hawker Siddeley Trident (1968–1991)
 * Lockheed Super Electra (1939–1940)
 * Saab 340B (1991–1995)
 * Short 330 (1983–1993)
 * Short 360 (1984–1991)
 * Vickers Viking (1947–1950)
 * Vickers Viscount 700 (1954–1960)
 * Vickers Viscount 800 (1957–1973)

= Routes = Entries with a green background indicates a destination in British Columbia. "Domestic" refers to services within Ireland and the United Kingdom, "Continental" refers to services within the European Union.