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Aer Lingus was founded on the
15th of April 1936, with a capital of £100,000. Its first
chairman was Seán Ó huadhaigh. Pending legislation
for Government investment through a parent company, Aer Lingus
was associated with Blackpool and West Coast Air Services which
advanced the money for the first aircraft, and operated with
Aer Lingus under the common title "Irish Sea Airways".
Aer Lingus Teoranta was registered as an airline on the 22nd
of May 1936. The name Aer Lingus is an anglicisation of the Irish
form Aer Loingeas, which means Air Fleet. The name was proposed
by Richard F O'Connor, who was County Cork Surveyor, as well
as an aviation enthusiast. Aer Lingus was originally pronounced
'air ling-us' (as the Irish Aer Loingeas is pronounced) and only
later did the pronunciation change to the 'air ling-gus' used
now. On the 27th of May 1936, five days after being registered
as an airline, its first service began between Baldonnel Airfield
in Dublin and Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport, United Kingdom, using
a six-seater De Havilland 84 Dragon (registration EI-ABI) biplane,
named Iolar (Eagle). Later that year, the airline acquired its
second aircraft, a four-engined biplane De Havilland 86 Express
named "Éire", with a capacity of 14 passengers.
This aircraft provided the first air link between Dublin and
London by extending the Bristol service to Croydon. At the same
time, the DH84 Dragon was used to inaugurate an Aer Lingus service
on the Dublin-Liverpool route. The airline was established as
the national carrier under the Air Navigation and Transport Act
(1936). In 1937, the Irish government created Aer Rianta (now
called Dublin Airport Authority), a company to assume financial
responsibility for the new airline and the entire country's civil
aviation infrastructure. In April 1937, Aer Lingus became wholly
owned by the Irish government via Aer Rianta. |
