Aer Lingus, Dublin – Heathrow, Airbus A320
Previous parts of this trip:
- Introduction: USA, September 2019
- Trip Report: TAP Portugal | Airbus A330 | London Heathrow – Lisbon
- Trip Report: TAP Portugal | Airbus A320 | Lisbon – Geneva
- Hotel Review: Crowne Plaza, Geneva Airport
- Trip Report: Iberia | Airbus A320 | Geneva – Madrid
- Trip Report: Iberia | Airbus A350 | Madrid – New York JFK
- Hotel Review: Crowne Plaza, HY36 Midtown Manhattan
- In Pictures: New York
- Trip Report: American Airlines First Class | B737 | New York – Miami
- Hotel Review: Holiday Inn, Port of Miami Downtown
- In Pictures: Miami
- Trip Report: American Airlines First Class | Airbus A321 | Miami-Dallas
- Hotel Review: Hotel Indigo, Dallas Downtown
- In Pictures: Dallas
- Trip Report: American Airlines First Class | Airbus A321 | Dallas – Chicago
- Hotel Review: Kimpton Gray Hotel, Chicago
- In Pictures: Chicago
- Trip Report: Delta Airlines First Class | Boeing 717 | Chicago – Detroit
- Trip Report: Delta Airlines Airbus A220 | First Class | Detroit – Newark
- Hotel Review: Crowne Plaza, Times Square
- In Pictures: New York 2
- Trip Report: Finnair | Airbus A330 | New York – Helsinki
- In Pictures: Helsinki
- Trip Report: Finnair | Embraer E190 | Helsinki – Geneva
- Hotel Review: Hotel PAX, Geneva
- In Pictures: Geneva
- Trip Report: Swiss | CS300 | GVA-ZRH
- Trip Report: Austrian | Airbus A320 | ZRH-VIE
- Hotel Review: Ruby Sofie Hotel, Vienna
In Pictures: Vienna- Trip Report: Austrian | Airbus A320 | VIE-FRA
- Trip Report: Lufthansa | Airbus A321 | FRA-TXL
- Hotel Review: Hotel Indigo Berlin Alexanderplatz
- In Pictures: Berlin
- Trip Report: KLM | Boeing 737 | TXL-AMS
- Trip Report: KLM | Embraer E190 | AMS-DUB
- Final Report: Aer Lingus | Airbus A320 | DUB-LHR
On to the final flight of this trip. This one will take place with Aer Lingus. An airline I’ve flown before, but not too often.
After arriving on KLM from Amsterdam, I had around four hours to connect. Bags of time. And it was a good thing too. There was a flight transfer area, however it closes at 16:30. And I arrived at 16:45. This meant I had to exit and re-clear security.
As I had zero status with Aer Lingus, it meant no fast track for me. The standard security line wasn’t exactly quick either.
Around thirty minutes later, I was back airside again.
One perk I do get with Aer Lingus is lounge access. British Airways Silver and Gold card holders are able to access the Aer Lingus lounge in Dublin when flying with them. The one caveat being that you have to be on a flight to London.
Aer Lingus Lounge, Dublin
As there’s no mention of your BA status on the Aer Lingus boarding pass, you do need your physical card with you. The virtual one won’t do, as they have to swipe it. The Aer Lingus lounge was one of the first lounges I visited back in 2012. It was just as I remembered it. There was the main lounge area.
Then a corridor with a buffet and drinks.
Beyond this was another small seating area.
There is also a small terrace area upstairs, along with shower facilities and a further coffee machine.
At the far end of the lounge on the lower level, was a selection of reading material.
Also available was a business area
Boarding
The incoming aircraft arrived on to stand at 19:30, meaning it was likely to be a bit of a push to get boarding started at 19:45.
It didn’t matter however – the flight wasn’t anywhere near full. In fact, the two rows behind me and at least three in front were completely empty. Meaning a pretty comfortable ride home this evening.
Departure
As everyone was on board and ready to go a good fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, I suspected that we might get going a little early. This wasn’t the case though, as we only started refuelling around ten minutes prior to SDT.
The captain gave a very Irish welcome PA, mentioning that the refuellers were probably late because they were watching the football and gave a flight time of “about 50 minutes give or take”
Refuelling didn’t take too long however and we pushed back on time.
Following this was a very short taxi before we departed into the sunset.
Onboard Service
As like all other IAG owned airlines, Aer Lingus doesn’t provide free food or drink on board. Instead, anything you want has to be purchased. As I’d eaten in the terminal, I didn’t bother with anything on board this 50 minute flight.
With it being such a light load, the crew didn’t bother getting the carts out. Instead they walked the aisle asking if people wanted anything. Not too many people bought anything, so it was a fairly easy run for the crew.
Arrival
Descent started, the crew made their final checks and the cabin lights were dimmed. There were some great views of London on our approach this evening.
We landed on runway 27R. In days gone by, this would have meant pulling on to stand pretty much straight away. Although now that Terminal 1 at Heathrow is long gone, this now means that it was over to the other side of the airport to pull in at the domestic stands at Terminal 2.
It was then a short walk out to the bus station to catch a shuttle back to the car park.
My Thoughts
Unsurprisingly, Aer Lingus are very similar to flying British Airways these days. Although the legroom on board did seem very tight. I guess the seats on the Aer Lingus jets aren’t quite as slim-line as on others.
The lounge wasn’t too much different to how I remembered it from my previous visit, other than there are slightly less food options now. I guess not having a European business class offering for many years, they didn’t have to provide all that much. I suspect the trans Atlantic flights use one of the lounges after pre-clearance so its not like they have to cater for masses on long haul business class passengers either. Still, it was a comfortable enough area to wait for a couple of hours.