Aer Lingus Regional has 31 routes in July; capacity is up 10% in a year

Emerald Airlines operates for Aer Lingus under the Aer Lingus Regional banner. Following the cessation of Stobart Air in 2021 (previously called Aer Arann), the carrier commenced operations in February 2022. The first route was the PSO-operated service from Dublin to Donegal.

Emerald has two units, each with separate AOCs: the original Irish airline (which is based at Dublin) and the UK subsidiary (Belfast BHD). Planespotters.net shows that 20 ATR 72s are operated, each with 70 or 72 seats. The Irish unit has 13 of them.

In July 2026, Cirium schedule data shows that Emerald has 301,100 two-way seats, which is the record number for the same summer month in any prior year. Capacity has risen by 10% year-over-year, which is partly because of two new routes, as shown below. While both markets are new to Aer Lingus’ network, the Scottish link has had various airlines in the past and was most recently served by Loganair in 2024.

• 21 May 2026: Dublin to Inverness (2-weekly)
• 6 June 2026: Dublin to Tours (weekly)

31 routes are planned in July

Cirium data shows that 19 of the 30 routes will operate from Dublin (only two are also served by Aer Lingus mainline), along with 10 from BHD and two from Cork. The Irish capital has 63% of the available seats, BHD has 34% and Cork has 3%. The average stage length across Emerald’s full network is 385 km.

In the peak summer, Emerald’s mean number of departures per route is nine. 14 routes (45%) have at least 14-weekly flights. Five have 28-weekly services or more: Dublin to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester, and BHD to Birmingham and Manchester. At the other end of the scale, five airport pairs are served weekly: BHD to Exeter and Newquay, along with Dublin to Brest, Rennes and Tours.

Compared to last July, Cork has grown the most (+20%), followed by Dublin (+11%) and BHD (+6%). Cork’s expansion is from a very small base. It is due to Glasgow flights increasing from 4-weekly to 6-weekly.

Six routes from BHD have more frequencies, including East Midlands (from 3-weekly to 7). The biggest reduction is to Exeter (from 4-weekly to weekly). Seven of Dublin’s routes now have higher frequencies, especially Edinburgh (from 46-weekly to 61). This is because the route is no longer served by Aer Lingus’ jets.

With 19,600 one-way seats in July, Dublin to Edinburgh remains Emerald’s leading market. That carrier now has 61-weekly departures, with such a frequency helping with P2P traffic but also connectivity via Dublin to North America, which benefits from Dublin’s US pre-clearance. The carrier competes head-to-head with Ryanair (30-weekly).