The Irish carrier Aer Lingus is adding a new product to its portfolio of short haul fares called AerSpace. The reason for this is to provide a seamless experience for those crossing the Atlantic in business class.
For all intents and purposes, it is a European business class product. It features the middle seat free, complimentary food and drink, fast-track security, priority boarding, lounge access and is fully flexible.
Thoughts on the name AerSpace
AerSpace was first floated a long time ago, with reports surfacing as early as July 2015. That’s not a typo, it has actually taken almost four years to get it launched. I’ll not pass remark though, I am sure there is a good reason for it.
https://youtu.be/Jhqj2YEME7Q
When it comes to the name, didn’t like it in 2015, still don’t like it. I understand it’s cohesive with the name Aer Lingus and the frequent flyer programme AerClub, but even so AerSpace makes me wrinkle my nose.
Thoughts on Seating
Did you know there will be exactly four seats available in AerSpace on standard Airbus A320 services? This means that all passengers will be seated in row 1. Happy days, you might think, as this is a coveted row on most airlines. Not on Aer Lingus though, because the bulkhead is pretty close to the seat, so you won’t exactly be able to stretch out.
And What Does This Mean?
In a communication to AerClub members, Aer Lingus explained the frequent flyer earning of AerSpace. Booking a flight from say Chicago to London in business class automatically puts you in AerSpace on the Dublin to London portion of the ticket. In the e-mail, the last line in the below is a little bit opaque, to say the least. I originally thought it meant you’d get business class tier points on the short haul sector, but that’s not right.
Overall Thoughts
Obviously once the new Airbus A321LR arrives at Aer Lingus and does European flights, some AerSpace seating will be actual transatlantic business class seating. I still wonder why it is restricted just to row one on the Airbus A320 as you’d think Aer Lingus would get more than four passengers per flight. When I have flown British Airways, Lufthansa and SAS out of Dublin, they always have a bunch of people in their premium short haul cabins.
Not being allowed to select a seat in row two for example is quite unfortunate as the leg room in row one is not great. Also, the bulkheads are austere enough plus close to you, so it is the very antithesis of the space part of AerSpace.
Regardless of some of the choices made for the initial roll out, it has the potential to be quite successful. I’m sure the numbers have been crunched and four seats per flight is appropriate. Hopefully though it will increase just a little more so those tall people have a bit of a place to stretch their legs in row two.
What are your thoughts on AerSpace? Will you be giving it a try? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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All images via Aer Lingus.
Aer Lingus doesn’t really have it when it comes to the front row bulkhead seat.
I recently flew from Manchester to Dublin. That flight was part of a series of six flights the other five of which were in Business with Turkish, BA and SWISS. The Aer Lingus flight was particularly unpleasant. A small noisy turboprop plane where I paid to sit in Row 1, thinking at least I would get a little more comfort. The opposite. Because I waited in the lounge at Manchester until close to the end of boarding, I was one of the last on board. All boarding was from the back of the plane so I had to do the gangplank walk to my seat which seemed very close to the bulkhead. There was no space for my small carry on which the stewardess kindly put in the crew area behind the cockpit. The flight was really uncomfortable and worse, I paid £15.99 for the privilege of having that seat! Aer Lingus is not a class European airline and this gambit on its own will not change that.
Well, to be completely fair to Aer Lingus, those turboprop aircraft are operated as Aer Lingus Regional by an airline called Stobart Air. The priority seating is usually at the rear of those aircraft because of the entry and exit through the rear door. They also have smaller overhead bins compared to the Airbus A320 fleet. It’s a shame, because Manchester operates with a mix of ATRs and Airbus A320s, so you just selected one of the services that was operated by a turboprop. It is not really indicative of the Aer Lingus experience overall though. You should try them again on a jet service to see what they’re really like. Thanks for the comment!
To be completely fair to Aer Lingus passengers, like me, it was an Aer Lingus flight where Aer Lingus took the highest fee available on the flight to sit me in the front row bulkhead with very little leg room and a last off the plane scenario. It was an Aer Lingus experience.
Well, you did pay to sit in row 1, and on those aircraft it’s not the best place to sit. It’s a shame you weren’t aware, but you live, you learn and you’ll know best for next time.
Hi
I know the comments are a couple of years old but it appears that business class check in in Dublin cannot be used if you have an AerSpace ticket? It’s reserved only for transatlantic business and silver tier plus? Do you know if this is true. I’m booking soon to go to Barcelona and to be honest not having a huge queue at check in is my priority.
Thanks so much
Hi Anne! While I am not sure, that actually makes sense. AerSpace is not business class, it is considered economy class with free food and some additional space, so economy plus. That means it would not be eligible for the business class check-in. There’s no real way to avoid the queue if you have baggage to check-in. Hope that helps and good luck with your trip!
Hi Anne, if you fly from Dublin you currently check in on-line and self check your bags, print baggage tag at one of the machines and attach to your bag. There are usually no queues. Both aer space and advantage ticket give access to fast track in Dublin and Aer Lingus lounge in T2. This is though not necessarily the case in any other airport.