Cancelled flights delayed 600 Aer Lingus passengers

Two Aer Lingus transatlantic flights were cancelled this week because of technical difficulties, resulting in delayed departures…

Two Aer Lingus transatlantic flights were cancelled this week because of technical difficulties, resulting in delayed departures from Ireland for 600 passengers.

A full schedule operated yesterday following the delays on Wednesday and Thursday, a spokeswoman for the airline said.

About 300 passengers were accommodated in Dublin overnight on Wednesday after technical problems forced the cancellation of the 5.40pm Dublin-New York flight. They subsequently flew out at noon on Thursday on a hired-in aircraft.

On the same day a New York-bound Aer Lingus craft was forced to return to Shannon after technical difficulties arose during take-off.

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The aircraft had left Dublin at 1.30pm and, following a stopover at Shannon, had taken off from the western airport at 4pm.

The 300 passengers affected were accommodated overnight in the Shannon area and departed on a hired-in aircraft at 8.50am yesterday.

The disruption caused a knock-on delay for passengers who had been due into Shannon at 7am yesterday on the return flight from New York.

They were now expected in Shannon at 8pm last night, the spokeswoman said.

She added that the fault identified in the aircraft had been repaired, and it was now serviceable again. She declined to comment, however, on the nature of the technical problems that had arisen.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Cypriot airline, Helios Airways, said its services between Dublin and Cyprus would continue to operate normally.

An incident in Britain yesterday involving a Helios aircraft had no implications for its services in and out of Dublin, she said.

A Boeing-737 operated by the company had to be diverted from Luton airport to Stansted after the pilot feared a problem with the aircraft's flaps.

The plane, with 177 passengers on board, made a safe landing at Stansted in Essex. A Helios Airways Boeing-737 crashed into a Greek mountain last Sunday, killing all 121 passengers and crew.

Chris Dooley

Chris Dooley

Chris Dooley is Foreign Editor of The Irish Times