Aer Lingus passengers face ‘nightmare’ as New York flights cancelled from Manchester Airport
The airline said that flights were cancelled due to ‘aircraft technical issues’
12:36, 05 Dec 2025
Aer Lingus have cancelled several flights from Manchester Airport to New York (Image: PA)
Aer Lingus passengers have been left ‘stressed out’ and frustrated after the airline cancelled several flights to New York JFK from Manchester Airport. This week the airline cancelled flight EI 45 which is scheduled to depart from Manchester at 2.15pm and arrive in New York at 5.20pm, on Tuesday December 2 and Thursday, December 4. Today’s flight has also been cancelled.
In a statement Aer Lingus said that the flights were cancelled due to ‘aircraft technical issues’. It added that flights from December 3 -7 have been cancelled to date and that customers will be notified directly of any futher cancellations.
A spokesperson for Aer Lingus said: “Aer Lingus sincerely apologises for the cancellation of several direct flights from Manchester to New York due to aircraft technical issues. We have successfully rebooked the vast majority of affected customers on alternative flights, either via Dublin Airport or with partner airlines.
“Our dedicated customer care team is liaising directly with impacted passengers to provide alternative options. We regret the disruption this has caused and are working to minimise the impact on our customers.”
Aer Lingus said that the flights were cancelled due to ‘aircraft technical issues’.(Image: Adam Vaughan)
The situation has left passengers frustrated and confused. A Facebook post shared in a New York travel group on December 3 about the issue has been flooded with more than 100 comments from passengers whose flights have been cancelled from and to Manchester Airport, as well as comments from those who are scheduled to fly in the coming weeks.
Passengers who’ve paid for direct Aer Lingus flights report being switched to indirect flights via Dublin, while others were moved onto Virgin Atlantic flights. According to Aer Lingus’ website, passengers whose flights have been cancelled by the airline have three options. They can take their next available flight, which could be with a partner airline; change their flight; or request a voucher or cash refund.
Several report only being informed of the cancellation the night before. Some are concerned about how the cancellations and changes will impact their onward travel plans and other bookings.
One Facebook user Saul Blacklock commented: “We were supposed to be on the cancelled flight yesterday (Tuesday) they texted us 6pm the night before to tell us it had been cancelled. We phoned and asked to be put on the Virgin direct flight at a similar time and they moved to that. Otherwise it would have been a connecting flight to Dublin. In NYC now so see what happens on the flight home.”
Another user who remained anonymous wrote: “Our flight from Manchester was cancelled on Tuesday, no notification I just happened to check Manchester departures board on the evening before and could see it was cancelled. We had already been put on a virgin flight, which was actually an hour earlier. My concern now is getting home on Saturday but can’t [sic] do anything so will forget about it until Friday night and hope for the best!”
One passenger, Kerry Marie, due to fly later this month wrote: “We are due to fly from Manchester on 10th – I’m worried that some people have been given little notice of change especially if flight times are earlier – we have a 2 hr journey to get to airport and have attractions booked the following day. How can they do this to people when they’ve planned trips of a life time!”
For many New York is a bucket-list destination, so the disruption is very frustrating (Image: Getty Images/RooM RF)
One passenger, Jessica Lilburn, reported that her flights were cancelled in November – although one of these dates coincided with strike action by Aer Lingus staff at Manchester Airport. She was due to fly out with Aer Lingus direct from Manchester Airport to New York JFK, but both her direct outbound and inbound flights were cancelled. The trip with her partner had been booked to celebrate her birthday.
She had booked her flights and hotel through Tui and the flights were with Aer Lingus. Jessica found out that her outbound flight had been cancelled eight days before she was due to fly on November 16 after she checked her app.
After calling up Tui who referred her to Aer Lingus, she was then booked onto an indirect flight via Dublin with Aer Lingus instead – despite paying for direct tickets. They were offered flights with Virgin Atlantic but were quoted that this would have cost them £2,000 extra.
While they were in New York, on the day before they were due to fly back, they checked their emails to discover once again that their flight had been cancelled on November 22, and they had to fly indirect via Dublin. The only explanation she was given for the cancellations was ‘operational issues’. November 16 was a strike day for Aer Lingus staff at Manchester Airport, however November 22 was not.
Jessica, from Cannock, Staffordshire, told the Manchester Evening News: “It caused a lot of stress given all the money we paid. The communication was very poor from the airline. If you’re older and not good with emails you wouldn’t even know.
“We flew with Virgin in May and we couldn’t fault them at all. But I don’t think I would travel with Aer Lingus again. It was just a nightmare. It just feels like Aer Lingus are messing us about, it’s disgusting.”
The disruption comes after Aer Lingus is reportedly planning to close its operating base at Manchester Airport, with a redundancy notice putting more than 200 of its staff at the airport at risk, according to the union Unite. The airline previously said that its Manchester long-haul operating margin performance ‘continues to significantly lag behind that of Aer Lingus’s Irish longhaul operating margin’. It had confirmed that it had met with staff in talks.
This followed strike action by Aer Lingus cabin crew at Manchester Airport earlier in November. This was over a pay discrepancy between them and their counterparts in Ireland.
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