Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Aer Arann is revising the three times daily Dublin to London Southend route timings with the introduction of the Summer schedule on 31st March to improve convenience for customers.
From 31 March 2013 Aer Lingus Regional will fly from Dublin to London Southend first thing in the morning, instead of vice versa – this will mean departures from London Southend to Dublin will be at 0915, 1515 and 1930, with flights departing Dublin for London Southend at 0715,1315 and 1730.
This new timetable will deliver many benefits to customers on the route as an early arrival in Southend will benefit business travelers enabling a full business day in London, and a revised 0915 departure will work more efficiently with the rail timetable and for customers on City-breaks to Dublin.
The schedule will enable a smoother connectivity over Dublin Airport for passengers travelling to and from Boston, Chicago, New York JFK and Orlando and also still benefit from the US immigration pre-clearance facilities (CBP) has to offer, therefore arriving into the States as domestic passengers avoiding those long queues for the department of Homeland Security.
Finally the schedule enhances flexibility to match capacity with demand on the route using a mix of ATR42 and larger ATR72 aircraft when required such as the recent RBS Six Nations rugby match between England and Ireland being an ideal example.
Aer Arann Chief Commercial Officer Simon Fagan said “We at Aer Lingus Regional are continually reviewing operations to provide the best service possible to passengers at Southend airport. With the improved schedule, London based passengers can now catch the train from Central London to make our morning flight and also connect to the US, availing of pre-clearance in Dublin to save time at their US destination. City breakers can enjoy a leisurely trip to Dublin with a later check- in and get more out of their weekend.
The schedule now allows Irish based travellers spend a full business day in London and make it into London in under 50 minutes in the morning. We are confident that the improvements in flight times will be a great success and further supply our passengers’ needs.”
London Southend Airport Managing Director Alastair Welch said “Whilst the existing route is both very efficient and highly popular, we and our partners Aer Lingus Regional are always looking to see if there are ways routes can be improved for the benefit of our customers. Our joint review revealed that by simply changing the starting direction of the aircraft we can create a number of improvements for our passengers.
This move offers a longer business day for Irish customers travelling to London, a more relaxed departure time for people flying to Dublin from London Southend, and better connections for passengers going on to the USA. Aer Lingus can also introduce more flexibility with the size of aircraft used providing larger aircraft on popular flights.”
Irish Aviation Research Institute © 14th February 2013 All Rights Reserved.
