What makes a traveler want to book with a specific airline? It’s not always a straightforward question, especially with the growing number of competitive options carriers are introducing. Price, convenience, loyalty program, customer service, baggage fees, leg room—the list could go on and on.
In the end, it all comes down to overall value—add all the categories up, segment pluses and minuses, and you’ll boil it down to the airlines that are better than others.
One air carrier that is distancing itself from the pack, especially when it comes to flying into Europe, is Aer Lingus.
The growth in popularity isn’t just spurred by the luck of the Irish either.
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This April will mark 60 years since the Ireland-based airline began providing services across the North Atlantic. Lately, however, some power moves have caused the airline to grab more industry attention.
Doubling their North Atlantic business in the last five years is nothing to gloss over.
A big part of this accomplishment can be attributed to upgrades at the Dublin Airport. A second terminal was added with a U.S. Customs & Border Protection facility built into it, which allows travelers to pre-Clear before traveling to the United States.
This was a major advantage for Aer Lingus, giving the airline the opportunity to build a North Atlantic connecting hub in Dublin.
Leveraging the geographic location was another piece to the whole equation. It gave Dublin a chance to compete with major hub airports such as Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt and others.
To put it in perspective, Dublin was ranked 11th on the list of the biggest North Atlantic connecting hubs prior to Terminal 2 being built. Over the last five years, that number has jumped to fifth place.
With loads of competition, no airline could solely rely on location to leapfrog their airport rankings. Many carriers are heavily focused on their transatlantic business, which keeps the whole industry on its toes. A good product has to be presented, used and loved, which Aer Lingus has been able to mesh together nicely.
For business travelers, it’s important to note the airline features an extremely high-quality business class product. When lining it up to American carriers, Aer Lingus’ Business Class closely resembles a U.S. carrier’s first-class service.
Flying Business Class on Aer Lingus’ 757 is the epitome of the high-tech “room with a view.”
In my own personal experience as a 6’3” tech-savvy millennial, of course, I needed leg room, as well as space for my devices and charging ports.
Thankfully, the airline’s revamped business class cabin has personal charging ports and USB outlets at every seat, more than enough storage and a workspace, and a seat pitch of 60” with a lie-flat bed.
On top of these key components, travelers will not be disappointed with the fine selection of food and drink on the menu and entertainment options on the in-flight entertainment system. Although WiFi isn’t available on the 757, I found it really wasn’t necessary due to a wide range of TV shows, movies and music available.
In today’s world, friendly staff and customer service can go a long way.
Declan Kearney, Aer Lingus’ Director of Communications, knows how crucial this is to remain on the good side of travelers and the travel agents.
“I truly believe that the quality of service coming from our onboard staff is built into their DNA,” said Kearney. “From the moment passengers step onto the plane, they receive a ‘Welcome to Ireland’ type of greeting. This is the product that comes from the national carrier of a country with a huge tourism sector.”
All airlines love to shout about their about great customer service, but how do you know whether they practice what they preach? You could take my word for it, but the true proof lies with Skytrax.
“Aer Lingus is the only airline flying between the U.S. and Ireland to be awarded four stars by Skytrax. Delta, United, American are all three-star airlines,” said Kearney. “We received that fourth star for the continuous high-quality service on every flight. It has an enormous impact on our passengers on longer flights.”
With great service comes great business. And Aer Lingus plans to capitalize on its meteoric growth with additional ambitious plans for the next five years as well.
Among them, the airline is set to add eight Airbus A321 Neo Long Range aircraft to its current fleet of 63 planes. Adding the new Airbus planes will free-up some A330s to move into current and future routes planned for Midwestern and West Coast destinations, improving scheduling for these passengers.
A greater focus on the West Coast was also announced this past week in a new partnership with Alaska Air. The partnership will allow Aer Lingus passengers traveling to West Coast destinations to seamlessly connect to other destinations up and down the Pacific Coast, from Alaska to Mexico, with Alaska Air.
Aer Lingus is also increasing frequency through the East Coast, most recently in Philadelphia.
What does all of this mean for travel agents?
For Kearney, the most important thing travel agents should know is the value the airline delivers.
While Aer Lingus isn’t purely a low-cost operation such as its competitor Ryanair, it isn’t strictly a traditional legacy carrier either.
“When you combine our high-quality service and competitive pricing, it stands up very well for North Atlantic travel,” said Kearney. “Just take a look at our pricing, for both getting into Ireland and onwards to Europe. We’re extremely competitive, sometimes the market leader in price.”
Kearney also noted that being a member of the International Airlines Group (IAG) is a key component to Aer Lingus’ success in being able to offer competitive pricing.
“As a member of the IAG, it gives us a major advantage of having access to aircraft at a price we just couldn’t get otherwise,” said Kearney. “The new A321s we have coming in were bought at a lower rate, and that fed directly into our cost base. It’s helped us immensely in remaining reasonably priced in a heavily competitive market.”
A lot of exciting pieces are falling into place for Aer Lingus, making this the perfect time to direct clients towards a carrier that follows through on their dedication to customers, with very little blarney added to the mix.
