ein shamrock founded 15 april 1936 commenced operations 27 may 1936 operating bases belfast city cork shannon hubs dublin frequent flyer program aerclub avios future gold circle club closing in 2016 airport lounge gold circle lounge fleet size 47 destinations 82 company slogan smart flies aer lingus parent company international airlines group headquarters dublin airport ireland key people stephen kavanagh ceo rachel izzard cfo 1 revenue 1 718 million 2015 operating income 140.9 million 2015 net income 117.9 million 2015 employees 3 766 2014 website aerlingus.com aer lingus r l s an anglicisation of the irish aer loingeas 2 meaning air fleet 3 is the flag carrier airline of ireland and the second largest airline in ireland . founded by the irish government it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a subsidiary of international airlines group iag the parent company of british airways iberia and vueling . the airline s head office is on the grounds of dublin airport in cloghran county dublin ireland . formed in 1936 aer lingus is a former member of the oneworld airline alliance which it left on 31 march 2007 ; however after the takeover by iag it is expected that aer lingus will re enter oneworld in the foreseeable future . the airline has codeshares with oneworld star alliance and skyteam members as well as interline agreements with etihad airways jetblue airways and united airlines . aer lingus has a hybrid business model 4 operating a mixed fare service 5 on its european and north african routes and full service two class flights on transatlantic routes . ryanair used to own over 29 % of aer lingus stock and the irish state owned over 25 % . these shareholders were lost after iag bought the airline . the state had previously held an 85 % shareholding until the government s decision to float the company on the dublin and london stock exchanges on 2 october 2006 . the principal group companies include aer lingus limited aer lingus beachey limited aer lingus ireland limited and dirnan insurance company limited all of which are wholly owned . 6 on 26 may 2015 after months of negotiations on a possible iag takeover the irish government agreed to sell its 25 % stake in the company . ryanair retained a 30 % stake in aer lingus which it agreed to sell to iag on 10 july 2015 for 2.55 per share . 7 8 in august 2015 aer lingus shareholders officially accepted iag s takeover offer . 9 iag subsequently assumed control of aer lingus on 2 september 2015 . 10 contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 post war expansion 1.3 first transatlantic service 1.4 jet aircraft 1.5 1970s to present 1.5.1 airbus operations 1.5.2 flotation 1.5.3 ryanair takeover bid 2006 2013 1.5.4 cross border expansion 1.5.5 open skies 1.5.6 effects of global financial crisis 1.5.7 second ryanair takeover bid 2008 2009 1.5.8 gatwick base 1.5.9 appointment of christoph mueller as ceo 1.5.10 75th anniversary 1.5.11 third ryanair takeover bid 2012 1.5.12 virgin atlantic wet lease agreement 1.5.13 long haul expansion 1.5.14 change of ceo 1.5.15 iag takeover 2014 2015 2 corporate affairs 2.1 ownership and structure 2.1.1 aer lingus cargo 2.1.2 aer lingus regional 2.2 business trends 2.3 head office 2.4 foreign offices 2.5 strategy 2.6 employee relations 2.7 social media 2.8 irfu sponsorship 3 destinations 3.1 codeshare agreements 4 fleet 4.1 current 4.2 fleet history 5 services 6 frequent flyer programme 7 incidents and accidents 8 see also 9 references 10 external links history edit early years edit aer lingus was founded on 15 april 1936 with a capital of 100 000 . its first chairman was se n huadhaigh . 11 pending legislation for government investment through a parent company aer lingus was associated with blackpool and west coast air services which advanced the money for the first aircraft and operated with aer lingus under the common title irish sea airways . 12 13 aer lingus teoranta was registered as an airline on 22 may 1936 . 14 the name aer lingus is an anglicisation of the irish form aer loingeas which means air fleet . the name was proposed by richard f o connor who was county cork surveyor as well as an aviation enthusiast . aer lingus was originally pronounced air ling us as the irish aer loingeas is pronounced and only later did the pronunciation change to the air ling gus used now . a dh .84 dragon repainted in the livery of aer lingus original aircraft iolar . on 27 may 1936 five days after being registered as an airline its first service began between baldonnel airfield in dublin and bristol whitchurch airport united kingdom using a six seater de havilland 84 dragon registration ei abi biplane named iolar eagle . later that year the airline acquired its second aircraft a four engined biplane de havilland 86 express named ire with a capacity of 14 passengers . 13 this aircraft provided the first air link between dublin and london by extending the bristol service to croydon . at the same time the dh84 dragon was used to inaugurate an aer lingus service on the dublin liverpool route . the airline was established as the national carrier under the air navigation and transport act 1936 . 14 in 1937 the irish government created aer rianta now called dublin airport authority a company to assume financial responsibility for the new airline and the entire country s civil aviation infrastructure . in april 1937 aer lingus became wholly owned by the irish government via aer rianta . the airline s first general manager was dr j.f. jeremiah known as jerry dempsey a chartered accountant who joined the company on secondment from kennedy crowley & co predecessor to kpmg as company secretary in 1936 aged 30 and was appointed to the role of general manager in 1937 . he retired 30 years later in 1967 at the age of 60 . in 1938 a de havilland dh .89 dragon rapide replaced iolar and the company purchased a second dh86b . two lockheed 14s arrived in 1939 aer lingus first all metal aircraft . douglas dc 3 at manchester airport in 1948 wearing the first postwar livery in january 1940 a new airport opened in the dublin suburb of collinstown and aer lingus moved its operations there . it purchased a new dc 3 and inaugurated new services to liverpool and an internal service to shannon . the airline s services were curtailed during world war ii with the sole route being to liverpool or barton aerodrome manchester depending on the fluctuating security situation . post war expansion edit on 9 november 1945 regular services were resumed with an inaugural flight to london . from this point aer lingus aircraft initially mostly douglas dc 3s were painted in a silver and green livery . the airline introduced its first flight attendants . in 1946 a new anglo irish agreement gave aer lingus exclusive uk traffic rights from ireland in exchange for a 40 % holding by british overseas airways corporation boac and british european airways bea . because of aer lingus growth the airline bought seven new vickers viking aircraft in 1947 however these proved to be uneconomical and were soon sold . a bristol 170 freighter at manchester airport in 1953 . in 1947 aerl nte ireann came into existence with the purpose of operating transatlantic flights to new york city from ireland . the airline ordered five new lockheed l 749 constellations but a change of government and a financial crisis prevented the service from starting . john a costello the incoming fine gael taoiseach prime minister was not a keen supporter of air travel and thought that flying the atlantic was too grandiose a scheme for a small airline from a small country like ireland . 15 a vickers viscount 808 in green top livery at manchester airport in 1963 . during the late 1940s and early 1950s aer lingus introduced routes to brussels amsterdam via manchester and to rome . because of the expanding route structure the airline became one of the early purchasers of vickers viscount 700s in 1951 which were placed in service in april 1954 . in 1952 the airline expanded its all freight services and acquired a small fleet of bristol 170 freighters which remained in service until 1957 . in 1954 prof. patrick lynch was appointed chairman of aer lingus and aer rianta at the young age of 38 taking on the task of turning the 60 000 deficit into a profit . he was chairman for 21 years to 1975 and retired from that position at his own request to the government of the day . in 1956 aer lingus introduced a new green top livery with a white lighting flash down the windows and the irish flag displayed on the fin . first transatlantic service edit a boeing 720 in aer lingus irish international livery in 1965 . on 28 april 1958 aerl nte ireann operated its first transatlantic service from shannon to new york . three lockheed l 1049 super constellations were used for the twice weekly service aboard aircraft leased from the us airline seaboard and western with irish cabin crews . this arrangement continued until 1 january 1960 when aerl nte ireann was renamed aer lingus irish international airlines . aer lingus bought seven fokker f27 friendships which it received between november 1958 and may 1959 . these were used in short haul services to the uk gradually replacing the dakotas until aer lingus disposed of them during 1966 in favour of secondhand viscount 800s . the airline entered the jet age on 14 december 1960 when it received three boeing 720 for use on the new york route and the newest aer lingus destination boston . in 1963 aer lingus added aviation traders carvairs to the fleet . these aircraft could transport five cars which were loaded into the fuselage through the nose of the aircraft . the carvair proved to be uneconomical for the airline partly due to the rise of auto ferry services and the aircraft were used for freight services until disposed of . the boeing 720s proved to be a success for the airline on the transatlantic routes . to supplement these aer lingus took delivery of its first larger boeing 707 in 1964 and the type continued to serve the airline until 1986 . jet aircraft edit a fokker f27 friendship at manchester airport in 1965 the f27 was used on short haul services between 1958 and 1966 . conversion of the european fleet to jet equipment began in 1965 when the bac one eleven started services from dublin and cork to paris and via manchester to amsterdam copenhagen d sseldorf and frankfurt . the airline adopted a new livery in the same year with a large green shamrock on the fin and titles of aer lingus irish international just above the windows . in 1966 the remainder of the company s shares held by aer rianta were transferred to the minister for finance . an aviation traders carvair that was used as a vehicle freighter is seen loading a car at bristol airport in 1964 . in 1966 the company inaugurated a route from shannon to montreal and onward to chicago . in 1968 flights from belfast in northern ireland to new york city started however it was soon suspended due to the beginning of the troubles . aer lingus introduced boeing 737s to its fleet in 1969 to cope with the high demand for flights between dublin and london . later aer lingus extended the 737 flights to all of its european network . in 1967 after 30 years of service general manager dr. j.f. dempsey signed the contract for the airline s first two boeing 747 aircraft before he retired later that year . 1970s to present