Irish airline Aer Lingus has confirmed that it will close its base at Manchester Airport this spring, with all transatlantic flights from the UK airport being axed from the end of March.
The IAG-owned carrier had already stopped taking bookings for departures from Manchester to New York’s JFK Airport, Orlando and Barbados after 31 March, as it considered closing the base at Manchester.
In a statement, Aer Lingus said that Manchester-New York flights will stop from 23 February, although it plans to run flights from Dublin to Barbados in April and May to “reaccommodate” passengers affected by the cancellation of the Manchester-Barbados route.
“We do not expect there to be any impact to operations before these dates,” added the airline. “There is no impact to Aer Lingus or Aer Lingus Regional (Emerald Airlines) flights between Manchester and Ireland.
“We understand that this is disappointing news and apologise for the disruption to our customers. All impacted customers are being informed of the cancellation of flights directly and provided with reaccommodation and refund options.”
Aer Lingus established a base at Manchester Airport in 2021, using single-aisle Airbus A321LR aircraft to offer transatlantic services to New York, with routes to Orlando and Barbados being added later. The closure of the base will affect around 200 staff.