In the aftermath of the bankruptcy of Stobart Air, Aer Lingus will, in a first step, take over five routes that were previously served by the failed regional airline under a wet lease contract. There is still no solution for the other seven routes.
Within the IAG Group, help will also be available from its sister company BA Cityflyer from next week. This will soon take over two routes with Embraer regional jets. These are links between the United Kingdom and Ireland.
At the same time, Aer Lingus is looking for new solutions for feeder flights. Talks are being held with various ACMI providers who have suitable aircraft. However, it is still unclear whether there will actually be resumptions or whether Aer Lingus will use the opportunity and say goodbye to regional traffic.
Ireland's transport minister, Eamon Ryan, wants to work for both the Stobart Air staff and the maintenance of regional connections. One also thinks about whether some routes could be advertised as PSO routes. In the case of existing routes for which Aer Lingus is already receiving funding, the government is pushing for the contract to be fulfilled, which, if necessary, means that Aer Lingus must operate these with its own aircraft.