By Chase Hagl
American Airlines And Aer Lingus Launch New Codeshare
Tuesday morning, legacy carrier American Airlines announced their new code-share agreement with Aer Lingus — the national carrier of Ireland. The agreement will initially target those routes between the United States and Europe — giving passengers far more options to travel between the two countries.
The bilateral agreement will allow American Airlines to add their “AA” IATA designator to Aer Lingus flights between London’s Heathrow Airport and Dublin. Additionally, customers will be able to book codeshare flights on Aer Lingus from Dublin to Birmingham, United Kingdom; Manchester, United Kingdom; Amsterdam and London’s Gatwick Airport . Additionally, codeshare flights will be available from London’s Heathrow Airport to Belfast City, Northern Ireland; Cork, Ireland and Shannon, Ireland.
“We are excited to extend our relationship with our newest joint business partner, Aer Lingus, with this codeshare agreement. Through our trans-Atlantic joint business, customers have more choices to key destinations in Europe and now, Ireland,” Anmol Bhargava, American Airlines Vice President of Alliances, said.
For Aer Lingus, the codeshare agreement will place its IATA designator, “EI” on American Airlines flights from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport to Albuquerque, N.M.; Nashville, Tenn.; San Jose, Calif.; Tucson, Ariz.; Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco.
The carriers have plans to expand upon this codeshare agreement in the near future as the industry moves towards normalcy again and the airlines continue to operate in the post-Covid-19 world. Finding and implementing different strategies are key for a successful recovery.
“After almost two years of restricted travel, we know that demand for dream vacations, business travel, and reconnecting families and friends in 2022 and beyond will be stronger than ever. We are delighted that through the codeshare agreement with American Airlines, Aer Lingus customers will be able to avail of greater connectivity options and more seamless travel between the U.S. and Europe via our Dublin hub, which also has the added benefit of US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) pre-clearance located in Dublin,” Reid Moody, Aer Lingus’ Chief Strategy and Planning Officer said.
American’s Codeshare Reestablishment
This announcement comes just days after SriLankan Airlines announced the reestablishment of their codeshare agreement with American Airlines, allowing travelers more options to travel between the United States and Sri Lanka.
The partnership between both oneworld airline alliance members will also increase connectivity between European countries and the states. This particular codeshare agreement will place SriLankan’s “UL” code on several of American’s routes: Miami to Heathrow Airport and Paris, New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport to London and Paris, Dallas to Paris and Frankfurt, Germany. Other routes that will have the codeshare include Los Angeles to Heathrow and Chicago’s O’Hare Airport to Heathrow Airport.
As neither American nor SriLankan Airlines fly direct between the two locations, passengers can expect to fly from Colombo, Sri Lanka to any of these European hubs prior to their connection to the United States.
Both American’s codeshare announcements are positive signs of a healthy return for international air travel in 2022. Ultimately, people undoubtedly want to travel abroad despite the new Covid variants. However, codeshare partnerships such as those of American’s will play a huge role in facilitating the opportunity to more easily travel.
Chase Hagl grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho. His love and passion for Aviation landed him in Orem, Utah where he’s finishing up a B.S. in Aviation Management with a minor in Business Management from Utah Valley University. Following graduation, Chase has plans to obtain his MBA from UVU while employed. His experience in the aviation industry spans back four years, working in areas including agriculture application, customer service, maintenance, and flight ops. In his free time, Chase enjoys road biking, astronomy, and flying.
