Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Aer Lingus Regional flights cancelled as Stobart Air goes into administration

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

Aer Lingus Regional, which is run on a franchise basis by Stobart Air, collapsed last night as Stobart Air went into administration.

Twelve routes were currently operating under the franchise deal but are now suspended:

  • Dublin – Kerry
  • Dublin – Donegal
  • Dublin – Glasgow
  • Dublin – Edinburgh
  • Dublin – Manchester
  • Dublin – Newquay
Aer Lingus Regional flights cancelled as Stobart Air goes into administration
  • Belfast City – Manchester
  • Belfast City – Birmingham
  • Belfast City – Edinburgh
  • Belfast City – Leeds Bradford
  • Belfast City – Exeter
  • Beflast City – East Midlands

This was, to be honest, almost inevitable.

In late 2020, Aer Lingus awarded the contract to run Aer Lingus Regional services to Emerald Airlines. This was a controversial decision because Emerald Airlines did not actually have any aircraft at the time. It was due to start running services from the end of 2022.

From that point Stobart Air – which was relying on the Aer Lingus contract for the bulk of its revenue – was in trouble.

As we covered, Stobart’s parent company put the airline up for the sale. A few weeks ago it announced that it planned to sell to a start-up company based in the Isle of Man called Ettyl. Carlisle Lake District Airport was also to be included in the sale.

Ettyl was run by a 26-year old called Jason Scales with no experience in the airline industry. Two weeks ago, Stobart’s parent company, Esken, announced that the sale was now in doubt because Ettyl could not raise the necessary financing as promised.

With no other bidders in the frame and with no immediate prospect of a short term pick-up in UK flying, the demise of Aer Lingus Regional last night was not a surprise.

What does Aer Lingus do now?

Aer Lingus now has an issue. Emerald Airlines is not in a position to pick up these routes for another 18 months, although clearly Stobart Air’s fleet of 13 turboprop aircraft are now available.

In the meantime, competitors will fill the gaps on its most lucrative routes. These competitors will be well established by the time that the Emerald Airlines franchise is finally launched, and Aer Lingus Regional may struggle to win back market share, apart from connecting traffic at Dublin.

EDIT: Aer Lingus and BA CityFlyer to step in this week

During Saturday, it has been announced that, for at least the next week:

  • Aer Lingus will operate the Dublin/Edinburgh, Dublin/Manchester, Belfast City/Manchester, Belfast City/Birmingham and Belfast City/Edinburgh routes using its own aircraft
  • BA CityFlyer will operate the Belfast City/Exeter route and the Belfast City/Leeds Bradford route

Passengers due to fly on other routes will be offered alternative routings or refunds. It isn’t clear if these interim arrangements will continue beyond next week.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

Aer Lingus and AerClub

Comments (27)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • mr_jetlag says:
    12 Jun12 June 13:48

    Ettyl’s founder Jason Scales made his fortune via crypto. Not sure that qualifies one to run an airline. Still, shame about the liquidation.

    • Sloth says:
      12 Jun12 June 14:59

      Probably as good an indication as any that making money in crypto is more luck than judgement…

  • Nick says:
    12 Jun12 June 15:04

    Exactly! It was inevitable, sadly, just like, as another example, around 50% of restaurants that go into administration in their first year of operation, and that was even before COVID!

    What’s just as inevitable, is that we’ll see many more such failures, when the taxpayer ends it’s direct & indirect subsidy of so many of these companies.

    No, it’s not good for any of the companies involved, but, it’s sadly, indeed, inevitable.

    • ADS says:
      12 Jun12 June 17:06

      i’m not sure about “inevitable” but it was definitely a risk

      When Aer Lingus were evaluating the franchise proposals, I wonder whether they calculated the impact that a Stobart collapse would have on their business ?

      And whether once Aer Lingus awarded the franchise to Emerald, whether they developed a mitigation plan ready to implement ?

  • Nick says:
    12 Jun12 June 15:42

    The Dublin routes were mainly for connection feed into other EI flights. So any other airline that tries to enter will only succeed if they have a connection agreement with EI.

    • marcw says:
      12 Jun12 June 15:57

      +1

    • Stuart says:
      12 Jun12 June 16:29

      The DUB to GLA route always had a lot of point to point folks on it, but in summer, it was rammed with Americans. The Chicago flight connection seemed particularly popular.

      As a side note, I think the KIR and CFN routes were PSO. Wonder what will happen to them.

      • ADS says:
        12 Jun12 June 16:50

        “In line with Articles 16 and 17 of Regulation 1008/2008, the Department of Transport7 tendered for PSO air services in respect of two routes in 2017.
        The current PSO contract with Stobart Air, which governs the operation of air services on the Donegal/Dublin and Kerry/Dublin routes, expires on 31 January 2022 – one year into the new Programme.”

        from a 4th February 2021 Irish Department of Transport document

  • Magic Mike says:
    12 Jun12 June 15:44

    As the old joke goes – what’s the best way to become a millionaire?

    Be a billionaire and start an airline…

    • Rob says:
      12 Jun12 June 17:23

      Ettyl was paying £2 for Stobart Air IIRC – we could have had a reader whip-round to raise the financing 🙂

      • WaynedP says:
        12 Jun12 June 17:52

        With probably more expertise at operating an airline, by all accounts.

      • Tariq says:
        12 Jun12 June 21:38

        Why wouldn’t Aer Lingus buy it themselves?

        • Rob says:
          12 Jun12 June 23:29

          Clearly believe it is ‘faff’ they can do without. Same reason CityFlyer is separate from mainline BA with a Midlands HQ.

  • Chrisasaurus says:
    12 Jun12 June 16:35

    Posted earlier in chat thread but telegraph had an article at the weekend saying police had been alterted to ‘irregularities’ with the paperwork relating to Scales’ proposal

    • A says:
      12 Jun12 June 18:48

      A spokesman for Ettyl said: “Ettyl can confirm that it raised concerns with the Isle of Man Constabulary as soon as it became aware of an issue with the paperwork supplied by one of the proposed third-party funders.

  • Dublin Boy says:
    12 Jun12 June 18:37

    Aer Lingus announcing that they will operate 5 of the routes with their own aircraft for a least a week with BA City Flyer operating two more.

  • Rimmingtown says:
    12 Jun12 June 22:11

    Gutted by this, Donegal airport one of the most scenic approaches

  • Ian says:
    13 Jun13 June 06:43

    So when did BA last fly from Exeter?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 80,000 bonus points (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card (Offer ends 27th May)

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? GET THE ONLY FREE SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD WHICH CAN EARN AVIOS

Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold (ends 27th May)

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!