Aer Lingus moves into London City Airport (and goodbye CityJet)

In a surprise move, Aer Lingus has announced that it is launching a Dublin service from London City.

Even more surprising is how they are doing it.  Aer Lingus is taking over the six daily flights currently operated by CityJet.  CityJet will continue to operate the service but it will now be done on a contract basis for Aer Lingus.

British Airways will, at least for now, continue with its own London City to Dublin service.

The change takes place on 28th October.  If you are currently booked with CityJet to travel from London City to Dublin from that date, your existing ticket will be cancelled and you will be offered a refund or a seat on a replacement Aer Lingus service.  Flight times may differ.  You will earn Avios in AerClub on this replacement ticket!

From an Avios point of view, this is a positive move with additional redemption options.  However, if British Airways ends up pulling out of the route, it will be an overall negative as taxes are higher on Aer Lingus redemptions.

You can find out more, including about how Aer Lingus will deal with existing bookings, on their website here.

PS.  This change means the end of CityJet as an airline brand.  All of its routes are now flown under contract and its future will be as “a provider of capacity to customer airlines throughout Europe”.  You can find out more on the CityJet website here.