When its UK regional services operator Stobart Air collapsed without warning last weekend, Aer Lingus was left to plug a big gap in its schedule.
The airline’s regional British partner had looked to be in trouble for some time, but the speed of its failure was bad timing for its new chief executive Lynne Embleton. Emerald Airlines, a start-up founded by the former Ryanair executive Conor McCarthy, was chosen to succeed Stobart Air’s operation of 16 Aer Lingus UK-Ireland routes in 2023 but did not have the aircraft or crew to pick up the slack.
Over the past week, Aer Lingus has scrambled to fill the void. It has taken over six of the routes until at least the end of August, while its