Aer Lingus: Plans to close its long haul base at Manchester Airport

[mullion]

MAN looked at it and decided they didn`t want to hand a great chunk of the terminal to the US armed guards at a huge cost and seeing that many of the flights dont operate now was a good decision

 

[thunderchild]

I think pre-clearance is a red herring. If you are flying from MAN, routing via DUB will add 2-2.5 hours to the journey time. Immigration in US is a faff, but it is rarely much more than an hour’s wait. Pre-clearance is useful in airports where there is international feed onto US bound flights. I would be surprised to see the programme extended in the next few years.

If you live near the airport yes but that’s not necessarily the case for everyone who falls into MANs catchment, When we flew Aer Lingus to New York for a long weekend the travel agent was pushing for us to use the direct MAN flight but going from BHX via DUB won out for a number of reasons
- no trekking up the M6 for a start which in itself saves time
- the morning departure gives you more holiday time
- pre clearance is fantastic and again saves time
- it was cheaper!

The flight from MAN leaves in the afternoon, border control can take ages at JFK and then you’ve got the joy or the rush hour traffic to get to central Manhattan so all the while you’re losing valuable holiday time in my opinion, especially if you’re only going for a few days. I realise not everyone has the same travel itinerary’s but even if the EI flights went from BHX I still think connecting at DUB is far more convenient.

 

[IanFarquharson]

If you live near the airport yes but that’s not necessarily the case for everyone who falls into MANs catchment, When we flew Aer Lingus to New York for a long weekend the travel agent was pushing for us to use the direct MAN flight but going from BHX via DUB won out for a number of reasons
- no trekking up the M6 for a start which in itself saves time
- the morning departure gives you more holiday time
- pre clearance is fantastic and again saves time
- it was cheaper!

The flight from MAN leaves in the afternoon, border control can take ages at JFK and then you’ve got the joy or the rush hour traffic to get to central Manhattan so all the while you’re losing valuable holiday time in my opinion, especially if you’re only going for a few days. I realise not everyone has the same travel itinerary’s but even if the EI flights went from BHX I still think connecting at DUB is far more convenient.

Exactly the experience I have had 4 times, a seemless / smooth transit through DUB, pre-clearnce works well, but you need to volume of flights to make it worth the cost, Edinburgh needs to get it !

 

[CCGE29]

Exactly the experience I have had 4 times, a seemless / smooth transit through DUB, pre-clearnce works well, but you need to volume of flights to make it worth the cost, Edinburgh needs to get it !

EDI doesn’t have the year-round demand to justify pre-clearance.

Even if you just look at todays figures of departing seats direct to USA.

Seats available ex EDI - 585
Seats available ex MAN - 1233

And today is the quietest day of the week ex MAN for the USA.

If and when EDI gets more year-round service to the USA then it may become viable.

CCGE29

 

[Jerry]

EDI doesn’t have the year-round demand to justify pre-clearance.

Even if you just look at todays figures of departing seats direct to USA.

Seats available ex EDI - 585
Seats available ex MAN - 1233

And today is the quietest day of the week ex MAN for the USA.

If and when EDI gets more year-round service to the USA then it may become viable.

CCGE29

Well they obviously don't think so as they're lobbying the US government for it.

 

[Silvercity]

I would have thought Edinburgh has as much demand all year, cant see any reason why not really.

 

[David_itl]

at EDI it's 2 or 3 daily service year round that goes to 8 or 9 in summer. For whatever reason, the US tourism numbers jump off a cliff outside the summer period. Having a chunk of your terminal dedicated to something of limited use from October to April needs to be seen in the wider context thar other posters on different forums indicate that the terminal needs renovating so they may get the "pain" that MAN had of having a functioning airport while it's being developed.

 

[gulftraveller]

This would be a vanity project. EDI is already pushed for space and given that it has no hub and spoke airline feeding to transatlantic services and that the large majority of passengers are US passport holders, it would be a total waste of money.

I also wonder how pre-clearance fits with Trump’s views on government spending.

 

[Aviador]

I believe Aer Lingus has removed flights from sale from Manchester.

 

[Finger66]

I believe Aer Lingus has removed flights from sale from Manchester.

Apparently so but there are also rumours that staff have been given no official notification. However that could be down to the ongoing redundancy consultation process

 

[Seasider]

I assume you mean transatlantic flights.

 

[Finger66]

I assume you mean transatlantic flights.

I think the thread title is the big give away on that front

 

[Seasider]

Apologies 👎

 

[Silvercity]

After the recent episodes from Trump, cant see the demand for travelling to the US booming anytime soon.