Aer Arann headquarters in Dublin

An Aer Arann ATR 72 taking off from Bristol Airport

Aer Arann (styled as Aer Arann Regional) is a regional airline based in Dublin, Ireland.^[1] The airline operates scheduled services on behalf of Aer Lingus Regional, with a fleet of 10 aircraft dedicated to the operation. The airline has four bases in Cork, Dublin, Shannon and Waterford which operate under the Aer Lingus Regional brand. Aer Arann Islands is a small subsidiary of Aer Arann; the airline operates between Connemara and Inis Mór, Inis Main and Inis Oir Islands, 3 aircraft are dedicated to the Islands operation.

Aer Arann was owned by Everdeal Ltd, which is 95% owned by Pádraig Ó Céidigh, Aer Arann's Chairman, and 5% owned by the Stobart Group, through 35 preference shares of €1 each acquired on 10 November 2010. Stobart Group has an option to increase its shareholding by a further 27.5% to 32.5%.^[2]

History[link]

This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (March 2012)

Aer Arann was established in 1970 to provide an island-hopping air service between Galway and the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. Operations, using a single Britten-Norman Islander, began in August 1970. This service has since been moved to the less distant Connemara Airport and operates as "Aer Arann Islands". As of 2010 it still uses Islander aircraft.

The turning point for the airline was in 1994 when Pádraig Ó Céidigh purchased the airline. Ó Céidigh began to expand the airline's routes and fleet, launching scheduled services in 1998. Also in 1998, the Irish government awarded the airline the Public service obligation (PSO) route between Donegal and Dublin followed by the PSO route between Sligo and Dublin.

In 2002, service to the United Kingdom and Jersey was introduced, followed by service to Lorient and Nantes in Brittany in 2004.

In 2007, Aer Arann had a turnover of €100 million and passenger numbers in excess of 1.15 million.

In 2008, in recognition of the company's marketing achievements, the Head of Sales and Marketing, Colin Lewis was awarded the All Ireland Marketing Leader of the Year Award by the Marketing Institute of Ireland.^[3]

In 2008, Aer Arann entered into a franchise agreement with Nex Aviation and introduced service to Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Málaga and Faro, using British Aerospace 146 aircraft during the summer months. The Amsterdam service, which was operated by an ATR 72-500, ended on 14 January 2009.

In October 2008, the airline announced that it would be implementing a cost-saving programme, due to the downturn in passenger traffic, which would involve some focus on charter flights and leasing of aircraft and their crews to other airlines.^[4] The airline stated that up to 100 redundancies would be needed, but this was later revised to 70 which would represent a 20% reduction of staff.^[5] The airline's key routes were to remain unchanged.

In January 2010, Aer Arann and Aer Lingus founded Aer Lingus Regional which effectively removed Aer Arann's hubs at Cork and Dublin under the new airline.

In July 2010, Aer Arann confirmed it would end flights between Cork-Belfast and Cork-Dublin from the 31st of August 2010. The companies press release stated, “we sincerely regret having to suspend these services and the inconvenience that it will cause our loyal customers on both routes. Unfortunately however we have an aircraft leaving the fleet and this has an obvious but regrettable impact on our schedule. Aer Arann had operated flights on the Cork to Dublin route since 2001 and began service from Cork to Belfast in March 2004 after the demise of the airline JetMagic. Aer Arann now no longer operates from Cork Airport in its own entity but continues to expand its presence at Cork under the Aer Lingus Regional brand.

On 26 August 2010 an examiner was appointed to Aer Arann. A full hearing of the company’s application took place on 8 September and in the meantime Aer Arann is in interim examinership and under the protection of the Court. All Aer Arann flights will continue to operate normally including all Aer Lingus Regional flights. It was understood by the high court in Dublin that Aer Arann would return to profitability in 2011.^[6][7]

In October 2010, British logistics company Stobart Group was named as the preferred buyer for the airline, also announcing that the airline would serve London Southend Airport from March 2011 to destinations in Ireland and possibly France and open a base there.^[8][9]

On 10 November 2010, the deal was completed. Aer Arann is now owned by Everdeal Ltd, which is 95% owned by Pádraig Ó Céidigh, Aer Arann's Chairman, and 5% owned by the Stobart Group, through 35 preference shares of €1 each. Stobart Group has an option to increase its shareholding by a further 27.5% to 32.5%.^[10]

On 7 April 2011, Aer Arann confirmed it would end its PSO (Public Service Obligation) routes after the Irish Government withdrew funding for the routes, which included Dublin to Galway, Knock and Sligo.^[11]

In October 2011, Aer Arann announced it would suspend all services from Galway Airport, axed routes included Galway to Edinburgh, London-Luton, London-Southend, Manchester and Lorient. The company said the routes were "financially no longer viable". Galway Airport then confirmed it would have to make redundant 40 staff due to losing the airport's only operator.^[12]

On 2 March 2012, it was confirmed that Aer Arann was in final discussions to transfer all of its own operated flights to the Aer Lingus Regional brand. This would mean Aer Arann would now only operate on behalf of Aer Lingus Regional with the airline no longer operating routes as its own entity.^[13]

On 14 March 2012, Aer Arann confirmed it would no longer exist in its own entity from 10 April 2012. All its services transferred to Aer Lingus Regional on 25 March, streamlining services to a single brand^[14], with the one remaining route operated on an RE flight number, London City to Isle of Man, ceasing on 10 April.

Destinations[link]

Aer Arann Islands destinations

• Aran Islands
  • Inis Meálin/Inishmaan - Inishmaan Airport
  • Inis Mór/Inishmore - Inishmore Aerodrome
  • Inis Oírr/Inisheer - Ininsheer Airport

• Ireland
  • Connemara - Connemara Airport Base

Fleet[link]

EI-BYO An ATR 42 Landing at Sligo from Dublin, in an old colour scheme (2004-2011)

EI-REI an ATR 72 taxiing for Departure from Waterford to one of six destinations served from the Aer Arann base

The Aer Arann fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of February 2012):^[15]

The Aer Arann fleet, excluding leased aircraft, has an average fleet age of 15.4 years (as of March 2012):^[16]

Former fleet[link]

Aer Arann operated the following aircraft types (in alphabetical order):

• BAe 146-200 - wet leased from Nex Aviation and Cityjet in summer 2008^[17]
• Fokker 50^[18]
• Piper PA-31 Navajo^[19]
• Saab 340 - one aircraft leased from March 2010
• Short 360 - 1998-2001^[20]

Services[link]

Silver Club[link]

Silver Club is the travel rewards program of Aer Arann. Unlike traditional Frequent-flyer programes, there are no points or kilometres to earn, and is an invitation-only programme. Benefits of Silver Club include airport lounge access in Dublin, no change fees, an increase in baggage allowance to 25 kilograms (55 lb), preferred seat selection and a dedicated free-phone number.^{[21][dead link]}

The future of the Silver Club is unclear in the light of the transition to Aer Lingus Regional. As of March 2012^[update] the Silver Club's webpage was returning a 404 error^[22]. Aer Arann has announced that flights in qualifying booking classes will earn Aer Lingus Gold Circle Club points^[23].

In flight services[link]

Aer Arann has a buy on board programme offering sandwiches, crisps, confectionery as well as alcoholic, non-alcoholic and hot drinks for purchase. It also operates a "duty free" Buy on Board service.^[24]

Sponsorship deals[link]

Aer Arann was the main shirt sponsor of the Galway Gaelic Football team,^[25] and has their logo on the back of the Connacht Rugby team shirts, as well as sponsoring the Munster Rugby team.

On 17 December 2010, Aer Arann announced that it would be ending its sponsorship of the Galway Gaelic Football team.^[26]

In popular culture[link]

Aer Arran is featured in the 1997 romantic comedy, The MatchMaker.

See also[link]

	Ireland portal
	Companies portal
	Aviation portal

• List of airlines
• Transport in Ireland

References[link]

• Günter Endres, ed. (2010). Flight International World Airlines 2010. Sutton, Surrey, England: Reed Business Information. ISBN 978-1-898779-39-1. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aer Arann

Aviation portal

• Official website
• Aer Arann Islands official website

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009)

Aer (アエル, aeru^?) is a skyscraper in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Rising 31 stories to a height of 145.5 m, Aer is the tallest building in the Tohoku region and was partially constructed by robots.

Overview[link]

Aer is a mixed used complex built as a part of the redevelopment of the west side of Sendai Station. Floors 1 to 4 are occupied by retail businesses, including chains such as Uniqlo and Maruzen. Floors 5, 6, and 7 are occupied by municipal government offices, while floors 8 through 30 are occupied by commercial offices. Located on the 31st floor are a free observation deck, and Heichinro, an expensive Chinese restaurant chain. A unique feature of this building is that is was partially constructed by robots.^{[citation needed]} The top floor was assembled with a lattice of overhead rails. It was jacked up and the first floor was then constructed. This process was repeated until the building stood at its full height. Robots welded, located columns and beams, pored and leveled concrete. The postal codes 980-61xx are reserved for this building, with xx indicating the floor of the building. Postal codes of 32 and higher are available to specific clients.

As the tallest building in the Tohoku region,^{[citation needed]} Aer drew people's attention even since the beginning of its construction. The building is unrelated to the consumer finance company AEL, which is pronounced the same as Aer in Japanese.

Building address: 1-3-1 Chūō, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.

External links[link]

• Sendai-Aer.com (Japanese)

Coordinates: 38°15′45″N 140°52′53″E / 38.262565°N 140.8815°E / 38.262565; 140.8815

See also[link]

Aer, musical group from Boston, Massachusetts