Aer Lingus is looking at potentially replacing its fleet of Boeing 757s with between four and eight of the long range variant of the Airbus A321 for transatlantic operations, chief executive Stephen Kavanagh discloses.
Speaking to Flightglobal during the IATA AGM in Dublin, Kavanagh says Aer Lingus is “working very hard” on a business case it plans to present to owner IAG justifying the need for the narrowbody type. The move would see the Irish carrier shift to become an all-Airbus operator.
“That is a business case that we feel we can make and we will make and hopefully we will receive support from IAG. But ultimately we need to demonstrate that there capital would be well spent,” he says.
Kavanagh says the A321LR would either complement existing widebody operations in order to “invest frequency” or open up new markets.
Aer Lingus operates a fleet comprising of 1 A319, 33 A320s, three A321s, eight A330s and four 757s Flightglobal’s Fleets Analyzer database shows. The carrier has orders for two A330-300s and nine A350-900s.
Flightglobal
