Dublin to Chisinau with Air Moldova from 19 June 2012

Air Moldova begins a new service from Moldova's capital, Chisinau, to Dublin from 19 June 2012. The weekly service wll operate every Tuesday until September 4 with an Airbus A320. Flight 9U863 departs Chisinau at 5.25 and arrives in Dublin at 9.10; the return service 9U864 departs Dublin at 10.15 and arrives at Chisinau at 17.35.

All Aer Arann flights from Ireland to operate under Aer Lingus Regional brand

Aer Arann and Aer Lingus today (14 Mar 2012) announced an expansion of their franchise relationship which will see Aer Arann operate all of its services from Ireland to the UK, France and the Isle of Man under the Aer Lingus Regional brand from 25 March 2012. This includes flights between Waterford (WAT) and London Southend (SEN), Manchester (MAN) and London Luton (LTN) and routes from Dublin to the Isle of Man (IOM) and Kerry (KIR). There will be no change to existing flight times.

New routes with Aer Lingus from Dublin to Stockholm and Verona

Aer Lingus is launching new services from Dublin to Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) and Verona (VRN). Verona will be served twice weekly on Wednesdays and Sundays from 24 March 2012; Stockholm will be served 4-times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from 25 March. Both will be served by the airline's Airbus A320 aircraft.

Waterford to Birmingham - Flybe launches new route from March

Flybe will launch its daily Waterford (WAT) to Birmingham (BHX) service on 25 March 2012. The route will be operated by Flybe's Bombardier Q400 aircraft. This new service will allow passengers to connect to onward Flybe flights to Paris, Dusseldorf, Edinburgh and Glasgow via Birmingham.

Passenger numbers up at Ireland West Airport Knock - new routes on the way

It was a strong start to the year for Ireland West Airport Knock (NOC) as numbers grew for the second year in a row in January and February (up 16% compared to the same period in 2010).

In March, Ryanair starts four new routes to Barcelona Girona (GRO), Frankfurt Hahn (HHN), Milan Bergamo (BGY) and Paris Beauvais (BVA) while Flybe starts a new service to Leeds Bradford (LBA). In total, Ireland West Airport Knock will serve over 28 European destinations in 2012.

Shannon Airport launches Summer 2012 schedule

Shannon Airport (SNN) will offer passengers a choice of 34 direct destinations this summer (April-October). The schedule includes the UK, the US, Canada, Spain, France, Portugal, Turkey, Croatia, Switzerland, Poland and Austria. Aer Lingus will serve Boston and New York JFK and Delta will serve New York JFK. These are in addition to United's year round service to Newark.

Aer Lingus Regional from Dublin to London-Southend

From 10 May 2012, Aer Arann starts a new service between Dublin (DUB) and London Southend (SEN) under the Aer Lingus Regional franchise. The three daily flights will be operated by Aer Arann’s ATR42-500 aircraft. Aer Arann Regional already operates daily services from Waterford (WAT) to London Southend (SEN).

Aer Lingus Airbus A319 from Belfast?

It looks like Aer Lingus is basing at least one of its new Airbus A319 aircraft in Belfast (BFS) to serve destinations such as Barcelona (BCN) and Alicante (ALC). Aer Lingus took delivery of its A319s in mid-2011 and they've yet to enter service.