Review of Aer Lingus flight from London to Dublin in Economy

Aer Lingus A320neo

Aer Lingus is the last of the major International Airlines Group airlines to acquire the Airbus A320neo. The acquisition of the A320neo sub fleet specifically came in 2022 when Airbus found itself with a handful of Airbus A320neo built new for Russian airline's like S7 Airlines & Smartavia. With these first few A320neo no longer able to be delivered to Russia due to the sanctions imposed by the European Union & United States, IAG came in and scooped them up cheap and quickly for Aer Lingus to replace some of its older and aging A320ceo & A321ceo fleet.

The A320ceo was the first aircraft fleet type to not feature the long-time "Green Top" livery (excluding Avro RJ85 operated by CityJet) which the airline used in various designs from 1974 to 2019. Initially the A320neo was mainly used by Aer Lingus on the airline's "flagship" European route the Dublin-London Heathrow. As more A320neo came into the mainline fleet, the airline has started expanding them onto other European routes including Lanzarote, Amsterdam, Paris CDG & Frankfurt Main.

Flying from Heathrow's Terminal 2 in 2024

My main method of getting from Bournemouth to London Heathrow was the regular running National Express Coach NX205, this service from Bournemouth and Dorset takes passengers to London Heathrow and London Gatwick. It can be quite cost effective and takes you to all the Terminals at both London Airports and doesn't require any connecting stops. You could be at London Heathrow within 2 hours on a good run.

Since the Terminal 2 "Queen's Terminal" opened in 2014 after a 5 year long rebuild from the closing of the original Terminal 2 in 2009, Aer Lingus has resided its operations at Terminal 2 for its services to and from the Republic of Ireland (Dublin, Shannon & Cork) as well as Belfast City Airport for a number of years until 2023.

Getting through Terminal 2 was pretty quick and seamless at just past 5am in the morning, which was great considering the amount of early morning European flights leaving London Heathrow at that time. After clearing security I found a 10 Year Anniversary display for Terminal 2 near a balcony.

Aer Lingus has a lounge at London Heathrow T2 given its one of their key focus routes. Its open for people who fly on Aer Lingus' AerSpace and Advantage fare flying customers, as well as AerClub members with Silver, Platinum and Concierge membership levels. You can also purchase access in advance or on the day for £30, however on the day I flew with Aer Lingus the lounge's payment system was down and I couldn't pay for access, unfortunate but a "First World Problem" non-the-less. I found a small breakfast snack in a Starbucks as the only other paid for access lounge at Terminal 2 wanted £45, which for just less than 3 hours was not worth the money in my opinion.

After enjoying my quick "to go" breakfast from Starbucks, I found a window in the airside area of Terminal 2 where I spotted some various aircraft before my Airbus A320neo (EI-NSC) turned up from Dublin Airport to do this 08:50am service from London to Dublin.

Aer Lingus EI153 (LHR-DUB)

My Airbus A320neo was EI-NSC, a July 2023 new delivery to Aer Lingus making it the first of the purpose built A320neo for the airline. This aircraft was christened by Aer Lingus as "St Fergal/St Fearghal". Whilst I am not a big fan of the new "Eurowhite" Aer Lingus livery, I do like the fact they've added green engines as its a nice touch.

Boarding commenced on time at Gate A21, a main gate for LHR Aer Lingus flights. Unlike BA who offers up to 5 Groups for boarding on European flights, Aer Lingus only has two… Priority and the "Riff-Raff", I was in the latter group. He had a reasonably on time push back and we were off to the Runway for our departure.

The flight taxied parallel to the Southern Runway at London Heathrow Airport as we passed Terminal 2, 3 and 5 for the threshold of Runway 09R, our take off would take us towards the Myrtle Avenue spotting point at London Heathrow and in the direction of Central London.

Whilst the weather was cloudy and dull over the British Isles that day, above the clouds it was a beautiful day for flying on an aeroplane!

Three items can be found in the seatback pocket on Aer Lingus short-haul flights: The safety card and a copy of the Aer Lingus BIA menu. I spent 8EUR (£6.65p) on a Breakfast Wrap with sausage & bacon as well as a coffee, ideal for a hot breakfast on a 1hr flight. Though Aer Lingus offers a more substantial "Irish Breakfast" I've had on a prior flight which is also very nice. This breakfast wrap won't win any major awards, but it'll do!

Eventually we began our descent into Dublin, flying into Dublin Airport from the sea is a very swift affair as once you exit the cloud layer and see the coastlines of Portmarnock Beach in County Swords, you're already on final approach into Dublin Airport. On this day there was some low clouds (or sea mist) as we came in for arrival into Dublin Airport's Runway 28… It made for a somewhat eerie approach that morning!

After landing we taxied over to Terminal 2 where Aer Lingus flights operate from at Dublin Airport alongside various US Airlines (due to Terminal 2 offering Pre-Clearance), Emirates and Turkish Airlines. In June 2024 International Airlines Group (IAG) finally moved British Airways, Iberia and Vueling over from the crowded Terminal 1 over to the Aer Lingus dominated Terminal 2 to smooth connections and consolidate operations… something I reckon they should have done a very long time ago!

I grabbed some pictures of the cabin once most the other passengers left the seating area I was in. Aer Lingus is often strict on you taking photos or film of the cabin. So I wanted to do it with little chance of snapping a crew member by mistake as a courtesy. As you can see the Airbus A320neo of Aer Lingus uses the same "slimline" seats used by Iberia and Vueling, you can find this on most British Airways A320neo & A321neo, until the recently announced cabin refit is rolled out. USB charging ports are available for passengers, located at the bottom of the seat in-front of you.

One thing different to flying Ryanair into Dublin Airport is most mainline Aer Lingus flights drop you through a Jet Bridge, which was actually nice on a day like today. I got one last look of my A320neo parked on the right between the Turkish Airlines A321neo and Aer Lingus A330, its been five years since Aer Lingus rolled out its current livery and I'm surprised how many aircraft still sport the "Green Top" livery, which I'm not complaining about!

I had to go through Terminal 2 arrivals and then change Terminals to Terminal 1 for a Ryanair flight to Birmingham Airport, but without further ado or any "pomp and ceremony" as we say in England- Welcome to Dublin!

It was a refreshing change walking through Terminal 2 given I usually use Ryanair (and previously British Airways & CityJet) from Terminal 1, despite arriving various times into Terminal 2, I've still yet to fly from T2 at Dublin Airport… Maybe 2025 will change that!