Review: Aer Lingus European Economy Class

Aer Lingus operate a large number of services between Dublin and London Heathrow with flights operating almost hourly. The airline uses the most modern terminal at both airports, Terminal 2. A single class of service is offered with passengers offered Buy On Board catering if they wish to eat or drink.

EI155 – London Heathrow to Dublin (LHR-DUB)
8 November 2016
Airbus 320-200 EI-DER St. Mel
Seat: Economy 3A
Departure: 10:00 Arrival: 11:20

Before the flight I spent time in the Aer Lingus Gold Circle lounge at Heathrow. Passengers who are seated in the first 7 rows are offered priority boarding however on this occasion there was no signage at the gate meaning a wait in the general boarding queue. Once on board, I perused the on board menu which is called Bia, the Irish word for food.

Bia Menu

The Bia Menu contains a decent selection of meals and snacks available for purchase. The menu comprises of hot options, cold snacks, sandwiches and the focus of the menu is on good quality food.

When I fly Aer Lingus in the morning I always have an Irish Breakfast. There is always a mild feeling of trepidation that they may run out but I have always been lucky and been able to order one.

Cabin and Seating

Seats are navy blue and feature a decent amount of leg room for the short to medium sectors the aircraft fly. Each features a coat hook which is a nice touch.

Boarding generally completes quite quickly and once done the Cabin Crew deliver the manual demonstration. Aer Lingus do not use a pre-recorded announcement and the lilting Irish accent is a familiar feature. The airline’s complimentary magazine is called Cara which means friend in Irish. The content is not particularly great and it’s quite ad heavy. The High Life magazine at British Airways is far superior in content and presentation.

Breakfast Time

Cabin Crew at Aer Lingus are extremely efficient on short sectors, delivering a fast and friendly service to passengers. Once in the air, the trolley was soon at my seat and I ordered an Irish Breakfast. These were still heating in the rear galley so I was given my coffee to tide me over. Breakfast costs €10 and was soon delivered in its box.

The lid to the breakfast can be torn off the box to form what is optimistically referred to as a side plate. It is a fairly cumbersome operation as the box makes everything somewhat awkward to deal with. Cutlery is plastic and the breakfast comes with bread, marmalade, butter, salt and pepper. New is the nutritional information on the hot dish lid. Breakfast comprises sausages, potato medallions, black pudding, white pudding, tomato and bacon and it’s the perfect meal to start your day. There is just enough time to eat the meal before the crew begin to clear in before the descent and landing into Dublin.

Overall Thoughts

Aer Lingus position themselves as what they call a Value Carrier. This is a hybrid between full service and low cost using elements of both to provide the appropriate mix to the consumer. Flights are competitively priced, usually higher than low cost carriers such as Ryanair and more on par with full service carriers.

The on board service is always friendly and the crew will always go above and beyond to deal with passenger requests. It is the hallmark that separates the airline from others. The only item lacking from the whole experience is tomato ketchup for the breakfast which I have wanted for years. It is always available in restaurants in Dublin and it should also feature on board. Despite this, the variety of food available is more than adequate for the sector lengths.

Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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