IAG International Airlines Group is "upset" with Airbus over the delivery delays of the A321-200neo(LR) aircraft for Aer Lingus (EI, Dublin International), Group Chief Executive Willie Walsh said during a conference in Toronto.
"Sometimes they gloss over the impact of a delay like this for an airline like Aer Lingus, who are trying to transform their transatlantic service, it has a huge impact. We haven’t had a sense that Airbus have fully appreciated the negative impact these delays are having," Walsh was quoted as saying by The Irish Independent.
Aer Lingus has so far taken deliveries of two out of eight A321neo(LR)s. It plans to use the aircraft predominantly on the transatlantic market, although, according to the ch-aviation schedules module, the long-range narrowbodies currently operate a single route to Northern America, connecting Dublin International and Hartford Bradley. Aer Lingus is also deploying the A321neo(LR)s to London Heathrow.
The Irish carrier has already postponed the launch of its flights to Montréal Trudeau, initially due to launch in August 2019, to summer 2020 due to the lack of A321neo(LR)s. Walsh said that the delays have influenced the launch of two routes, without disclosing further details about the second service affected.
Besides the eight A321neo(LR) in total, Aer Lingus also expects to take six A321neo(XLR)s from lessors.
Currently, the carrier operates thirty-four A320-200s, three A321-200s, five A330-200s, and eight A330-300s. It also wet-leases four B757-200s from ASL Airlines Ireland (ABR, Dublin International) - these twinjets are due to be replaced by the A321neo(LR)s - and two ARJ-85s from CityJet (WX, Dublin International).
