Aer Lingus seeks Manchester slots for transatlantic flights

Aer Lingus has applied for slots at Manchester Airport as it continues to consider launching transatlantic services from Britain next year. The Irish carrier, part of International Airlines’ Group (IAG), hopes to operate a full summer schedule from the Republic in 2021, assuming air travel begins recovering from tough Covid-19 restrictions. It emerged on Thursday that Aer Lingus has applied to Manchester Airport for slots – that is take off and landing times – to allow it launch flights from there to North America next summer. Aer Lingus is considering flying transatlantic routes from Britain next year while there is continued uncertainty over the Republic’s likely approach to air travel. Consequently it is seeking the slots from Manchester as a contingency and may not take them up. If it does take them up, the airline has new planes due that it can allocate to services from the UK airport.<br/>