Aer Lingus and Virgin Atlantic Airways have announced that they have reached preliminary agreement under which it is planned that Aer Lingus will ‘wet lease’ aircraft to operate certain short-haul routes for Virgin. Specifically, Aer Lingus plans to lease to Virgin four Airbus A320-200 aircraft together with all crew, all maintenance, hull and third-party legal liability insurance. This preliminary agreement remains subject to contract.
The proposed agreement is for an initial three-year period. The four Aer Lingus aircraft are planned to commence operations on 31st March 2013 and it is intended that the aircraft will be deployed, in Virgin livery, on short-haul services connecting London Heathrow with Manchester, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
