Aer Lingus is based in Dublin Airport from which it flies routes around Ireland, Europe and North America. The airline dates back as far as 1936 when West Coast Air Services established the airline under the Air Navigation and Transport Act of 1936. The name ‘Aer Lingus’ is a phonetic translation of Aer – Loingeas which translates from Gaelic to ‘our fleet.’
The Government of Ireland own 85% of the company with much of the remainder being in the hands of the unions who represent the workers of Aer Lingus. In recent developments the government has approved the privatisation of the airline. The Government will still retain a share of the airline to ensure Irish interests are best served while the majority will be sold to the public.
Recent years have been good to Aer Lingus since they transformed their model to that of a low coast air line to compete with Ryanair who also fly out of Dublin Airport. The Airline is now profitable once again after losing money for several years beforehand and during the 1990s came close to being bankrupt.
Today the Aer Lingus fleet consists of Airbus aircraft while Ryanair have opted for Boeing aircraft. Aer Lingus have 22 A320 – 200, 6 A321 – 200, 3 A330-200 and 4 A330-300 aircraft with another four on order. It is a long way from the six seated De Havilland 84 Dragon biplane which was the plane used during its first operation flight ever taken that flew from Baldonnel Airfield to Bristol in England.
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