Aer Lingus mulls moving transatlantic flights to the UK

SHANNON - IAG considers moving Aer Lingus transatlantic flights from Shannon to a UK airport amid Irish Covid-19 non-essential travel restrictions. The airline mulls relocating two Airbus A321LR from Shannon to Edinburgh or Manchester to continue services to Boston and New York, "The Irish Times" reports.

The IAG airline struggles with tight Irish travel restrictions that kept the Airbus long range jets grounded since March.

According to "The Irish Times" report, four other UK airports also participate in a tender that would see Aer Lingus relocate both aircraft and crew for three years.

A loss of the Aer Lingus A321LR transatlantic flights would be a major setback for Shannon Airport and leave the region with limited international connectivity as Aer Lingus also used the aircraft for flights to British Airways hub London-Heathrow.

Aer Lingus plans to cut 500 of its 4,500 staff to survive the crisis. Ireland imposed the toughest restrictions of non-essential travel among EU countries that requires passengers to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival. Ryanair annouced last month to challenge the Irish regulation in courts.