Aer Lingus will shut its Manchester Airport base from March 31st, it confirmed to staff on Wednesday. The Irish airline flies to US cities and Barbados from the British airport, where it employs around 200 pilots and cabin crew.
Unions have signalled that they would seek to have staff from the base redeployed to Ireland following the announcement.
In a statement, Aer Lingus said, “Manchester-New York operations will cease from February 23rd, 2026”. The airline ”plans to operate a service from Dublin to Barbados (subject to receipt of necessary approvals) during the months of April and May to re-accommodate affected customers".
Services between Ireland and Manchester, including Aer Lingus Regional flights, will not be affected, the airline added.
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Aer Lingus is informing customers their flights have been cancelled and providing them with re-accommodation or refund options.
The airline said it would continue talks with workers and unions on the “reduction in operations redeployment opportunities and the terms of a severance package at the Manchester base”.
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The Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association (Ialpa), which represents the base’s 42 pilots, maintains that members have the right to redeploy to Dublin Airport.
The union is due to meet on Thursday night to discuss the airline’s plan. It confirmed news of the closure to all members on Wednesday.
However, it is understood the company holds the position that not all pilots have an automatic right to be posted to Dublin.
Unite regional official, John O’Neill, said the trade union was disappointed at the decision.
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The organisation represents 130 Aer Lingus cabin crew at Manchester.
“Unite is currently in the process of negotiating enhanced redundancy terms and redeployment of staff over to Ireland and we are committed to securing the best possible outcome for our hardworking, dedicated members at Aer Lingus,” he said.
Mr O’Neill added that the union would continue to support its members through talks with the airline.
Aer Lingus has been consulting with staff since November in a process it warned could end in the base’s closure, although it had not confirmed that this would be the outcome.
Earlier this month, it said staff could get the option of redundancy or redeployment elsewhere within Aer Lingus or its parent, IAG, which also owns Spain’s Iberia and British Airways.
Aer Lingus also also emailed customers who had booked flights scheduled for after March 31st to offer them refunds or alternative services.
The Easter weekend, which begins the build-up to peak summer holiday travel, falls days after the airline ceases Manchester operations.
The Irish carrier began flights from Manchester to New York, Orlando, Florida and Bridgetown, Barbados in 2021.
At the time, Aer Lingus was seeking to find uses for aircraft left idle as the Irish Government lagged behind the rest of Europe in reopening travel after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Aer Lingus chief executive Lynne Embleton recently said the base was under-performing.
The airline maintains that the Manchester operation is profitable but the margins are lower than the rest of its business.
