Review: Flying Aer Lingus from Dublin to London and back on the A320neo

Aer Lingus has an extensive high frequency operation at London Heathrow. There are around 12 daily return flights to and from Dublin, four from Cork, three from Shannon and one from Knock. That means there are flights coming and going all the time, which I noticed when I took my recent flight from Dublin to London and back for a weekend seeing concerts.

I’d booked my flights months in advance, securing decent pricing and as is my usual habit, I selected window seats in row three. I find the advantage of row three is the window position, plus the crew serve row one and three first, followed by two and four and so on.

Dublin Airport

As I am a Silver member of Aer Lingus’ AerClub, I was able to use priority security in Dublin’s Terminal 2. As usual, this took very little time and I headed to the lounge to grab something to drink.

Dublin Airport has a separate area called the South Gates, which are essentially non-contact stands. Aer Lingus uses it and you are bussed there from the main terminal. The distance is short, but it is annoying. I don’t like having to bus anywhere at airports. Once there, I walked all the way to the end and waited with everyone else.

Dublin to London Heathrow

Time passed and once the inbound aircraft arrived, things began to pick up. The announcement for priority boarding came, and as all AerClub Silver, Platinum and Concierge members get Group 1 boarding, it was time to go. We went outside and waited until the Cabin Crew were ready and then headed onto the plane.

EI164 – Dublin to London Heathrow (DUB-LHR)
20 June 2026
Airbus A320neo – EI-NSH – St. MacCullin
Seat: Economy 3F
Departure: 12:00 Arrival: 13:30

For some reason the cabin crew were surprised by our arrival and the lead crew member was pissed. Her face was like thunder as she stopped us all and used the interphone to advise the other crew we were here. Once done, she stepped back, still looking grim, so I wished her a pointedly friendly “Good afternoon” and headed to my seat. She was not a happy bunny at all!

I hate the seats on the Airbus A320neo at Aer Lingus. They’re really slim in width, they look ridiculous and have tiny little tray tables. Try eating an Aer Lingus breakfast off one of those tables and you’ll end up very good at Tetris! Regardless of my personal feelings, they have USB charging and are fine for short flights.

Bia Time

Once all were on board we headed to the runway and set course from Dublin to London. Aer Lingus’ menu is called Bia, which is Irish for food. I noticed they had some new items, so I planned to try “The Italian Job – Chicken and Pesto Sub Roll” for €7.00 and a Coco Coconut and Kiwi Sparkling Coconut water for €3.50.

Both were in stock, and the crew offered and I accepted a cup of ice to go with the drink. The sub was really lovely for lunch, tasty and filling, exactly what I wanted. Loved the sparkling coconut water too! Once I’d finished, the crew took away the rubbish and we landed on time into Heathrow.

The Return

The following day it was time to do it all in reverse. I used Fast-Track security at LHR, and headed off to the Aer Lingus Heathrow lounge. My plan was to eat dinner there, as I knew the food situation there was decent.

Since the scones with jam and cream were still out, I had afternoon tea and dinner. The scones were passable, and dinner was also alright. The little spheres of whatever they were (I assume the vegetarian option) were awful. I noticed a guy sitting in front of me leave all of his as well. Once I’d eaten my fill it was off to the gate to board.

Priority or no priority?

I arrived at the gate and boarding was underway. Everyone was in one long line, so long that I assumed it wasn’t Group 1. Approaching the lady letting people through the barrier, I asked if it was Group 1. She replied, “Oh Group 1 – go straight in!” – and then she called out for anyone else in Group 1 to come to the top of the queue.

EI173 – London Heathrow to Dublin
21 June 2026
Airbus A320neo – EI-NSE – St. Flora
Seat: Economy 3A
Departure: 18:10 Arrival: 19:35

On this flight we had a lovely crew and I ordered two more of the delicious sparkling coconut waters. The people in front of me heard the crew and I enthusing about them and ordered some themselves.

After landing, we headed to the South Gates again. Sigh. We deplaned down stairs, into the bus, which took us right around the pier and back to about 20 metres from where we started. The inefficiency of this is mind boggling. From there it was out and off home.

Overall Thoughts

Aer Lingus operate a decent enough service from Dublin to London. Due to London Heathrow offering much lower landing charges for airlines using the A320neo, all the services tend to be flown with that aircraft.

I’ll never come to like the seats. They just look cheap and feel cheap and it doesn’t fit the brand positioning of Aer Lingus (whatever that currently is, they seem a bit adrift in that area these days – premium? Not premium? Who knows!). Anyway, they got me from A to B and that’s all I can ask really.

What do you think of the Aer Lingus experience from Dublin to London Heathrow? How about their Bia food offering? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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