Dublin Flights

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Aer Lingus is a national ‘flag carrier’ airline and a major international airline. This usually means it’s more expensive than budget airlines, owned by the national government and loses money. Not anymore. In 2006 Aer Lingus became a budget airline and privatised. So now instead of government workers with jobs for life serving you – you pay less and should get better service.

The reason Aer Lingus had to get cheaper, and drop out of expensive airline alliances is the fact it is Ireland’s 2nd biggest airline. The largest is the undisputed international budget airline - Ryanair.

So if you are in Europe and want to visit Ireland, you should get here very cheaply now. Just book months in advance for the cheap seats.

Dublin is one of the best served destinations in Europe with Ryanair and Aer Lingus offering flights to many places. Both airlines offer affordable fares, with Ryanair being far cheaper, but a lot trickier in the booking procedure. If you are familiar with Ryanair and your airport does not have a Dublin route anymore (so as my two closest Ryanair airports), try self-connecting via Stansted. The Dublin – Stansted route is served more than five times a day. There are also services to North America and Asia by a dozen of intercontinental airlines. Regional services are provided too, mostly by Aer Arann.
Dublin airport has no rail service, but is well-connected by bus with the city center. Check out my separate tip To/From the airport for further information.

On my April 11 trip I arrived on Ryanair and left on Aer Lingus (long story), so I can compare!

Ryanair was only 50% full, so boarding was easy and getting seats together for the 2 of us was not difficult. The flight was on time. The main ”negative” was the constant stream of high volume announcements throughout the short flight. It made conversation difficult.

Aer Lingus was a bit fuller, but check in was immediate and boarding was easy. You get allocated seats. I slept all the way, so presumably either they don’t have to sell lottery cards or can do it quietly. AL uses the new terminal (2) which is lovely - spacious and well appointed.

Dublin Airport is Ireland's largest. Most of the air traffic at the airport is international. My incoming and outgoing flights on Continental were both direct -- between Newark (New Jersey) and Dublin.

The airport is located only 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) north of the city centre. After my arrival, I took the Air Coach service which charged a flat fee of 8 Euros.

Before my return flight, I had a full Irish breakfast at a cafe on the second floor. Then, on my way to the gate for my flight, I walked through a big duty free shopping area. Even early in the morning, there were many salespeople offering free samples of Irish Whiskey and other liqueurs such as Bailey's Irish Creme. In fact, there were so many that I even had to turn some down! (haha)

I took a photo outside of the airport. However, due to the tight security, I did not take any photos inside the airport.

On Ryanair there are cheap flights between Dublin and almost any continental European country (direct or via London/Stansted).

Flight to Dublin land at Dublin Airport, 6 miles north of downtown Dublin. At the airport, there is a tourist information/hotel booking service, ATMs and banks, car rental counters (but you can rent one cheaper downtown!), and a few small shops. Dublin airport is tiny with only about 20 gates, but it has flights to many key destinations including London, Paris, Frankfurt, and New York City. Major carriers are Aer Lingus, Ryanair and British Midlands, but 41 others fly through Dublin offering regular service to 130 cities.

ENGLISH VERSION:
A cheap way to tavel by air to Eire from France & other countries in Europe, RYANAIR.

http://www.ryanair.com from where you can book (aviable by phone too). Tickets are not expensive at all. I booked a round trip for less than 90 €uros !! ($ 75) ==>PARIS-BEAUVAIS - DUBLIN and back... also saw far cheaper tickets.

VERSION FRANCAISE Un moyen bon marché pour se rendre en Irlande par avion: RYANAIR http://www.ryanair.com - Départs depuis la France ainsi que plusieurs autres pays d'Europe -
On peut reserver par téléphone ou par internet et les billets ne sont pas chers du tout.
J'ai acheté un ticket aller-retour PARIS-BEAUVAIS - DUBLIN pour moins de 90 €uros ; et j'ai même vu des billets bien moins chers.

I cannot guarantee this will work - but it worth a try if you want to save some money on parking your car at the airport. The DAA (Dublin airport authority) charge silly amounts of money to park there. Even their best rate to stay in the long-term car park is a whopping seven euro a day (must the booked 48 hours ahead on-line)

So here is Sourbugger's guide to saving you a few bob if you really must drive to the airport.

- book in at the travelodge in ballymun. They have a secure underground car park priced at a reasonable 5 euro a day

- walk about 100 yards to the Metro Hotel who have a 2 euro return shuttle to the terminal (you will have to tell them you parked your car there!)

If you feel uneasy about telling a little lie like that that then the Metro hotel, Ballymun rate is still a fairly reasonable 6 euro a day. A taxi from the Travelodge would be about 12 euro each way (which might still work out cheaper than the long term car park if travelling for a couple of weeks or more) or take a normal dublin bus to the airport.

Check on comparison sites for other hotels who may be doing a good deal at around 5 euro per day.

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Both times I went to Ireland was with Ryanair direct to Dublin and also leaving again from Dublin. I have found the staff at this airport to be extremely friendly, whether they are the people checking you in or the passport control staff . It makes flying such fun when people are friendly and always willing to assist without you ever feeling like you are a nuisance to them.