Which airline is cheapest when flying Dublin to London – Aer Lingus, British Airways or Ryanair?

People travelling between Dublin and London have three choices when it comes to non-stop flights, Aer Lingus, British Airways and Ryanair. Each offers multiple flights per day and so the question is, which airline is cheaper?

Certain people will book with certain airlines, depending on their spending habits and personal preferences. It would probably save people quite a bit of money if they remembered to shop around a bit more.

Which Airline Is Cheaper To And From Heathrow?

Of course, the answer to the question as to which airline is cheaper has to be, “it depends”. Pricing changes dynamically depending on demand, plus different times of the year naturally impact the airfare.

However, I have noticed a trend on Dublin to London Heathrow, where British Airways are consistently pricing quite a bit lower than Aer Lingus. Plugging in something like flying out on 2 November and back on 9 November sees the following.

For hand baggage only, BA charge €55.78 return, while EI charge €150.77. For a ticket including a bag, the UK airline charges €78.78 while the Irish carrier comes in at €200.77 (that is adding a bag to the Saver fare – a Plus Fare is €230.77).

British Airways also offer business class, and they charge €216.96 for Club Europe, which includes lounge access, two bags, and a full on board service. Aer Lingus don’t have this class, but their closest equivalent, a premium economy type product called AerSpace comes in at €214.77 return.

What About Ryanair, They Must Be Even Cheaper?

Ryanair also operate flights to the British capital, to London Stansted, London Luton and London Gatwick. With no bag at all (that means no cabin bag, just a bag you can put under the seat in front of you), their lowest price is €33.98 to Stansted.

Being able to bring a cabin bag increases the ticket to €77.48, which is actually higher than the same ticket on British Airways. Adding a checked bag, brings it up to €92.46, which is still more expensive than BA economy with a bag. Some food for thought there, I think!

Overall Thoughts

As I said, I have noticed frequently lately that British Airways are often quite a bit cheaper than Aer Lingus. It would make sense to always check both airlines when searching for tickets between Dublin and London Heathrow. What surprised me is that BA is more cost effective than Ryanair!

Quite frankly, if you’re a regular Ryanair customer, you would also be mad not to check competing airlines prices. Very often Ryanair is not actually the cheapest, but they are positioned to make you think they are. More power to them!

Essentially you should always check all options when booking airline tickets. Take care to note the difference between prices with cabin bags and without, with hold baggage and without. The more money you keep in your own pocket, the better.

Which airline do you choose when flying between Dublin and London and why? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions please leave them below.

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