Ireland's national airline, Aer Lingus operates a great service, flying its passengers to many different European destinations, including Dusseldorf, Rome and Prague, as well as internal flights to cities such as Cork and Shannon.

Despite its rebranding as a low-cost airline, Aer Lingus does not just offer short-haul flights, but runs services to the USA and the Middle East as well. In August 2007 it began operating flights from Dublin to Washington, the first service to be launched under the Open Skies agreement between the EU and the US.

A number of cheap airline flights are available, with flights to its base in Dublin, for example, costing as little as £5 from airports in London, Newcastle and Bristol.

Also in August 2007, Aer Lingus announced it would establish a base in Belfast, offering flights to destinations such as London Heathrow, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Geneva and Faro. Other new routes include Dublin to London Gatwick, beginning in October 2007.

Established in 1936, the airline forms part of the oneworld alliance with major airlines British Airways, Cathay Pacific, American Airlines, Finnair, Iberia, Lan and Qantas. However, the company will be leaving this alliance in 2007, it has announced.

Aer Lingus, which translates into Irish as Air Fleet, operates more than 30 aircraft to its mix of destinations. Since 1994, the airline has had a direct service between Dublin and the US using an Airbus A330 and also operates Boeing 747s, as well as a brief stint operating the Boeing 767-300ER.

In the past few years, Aer Lingus has spent money updating its fleet with modern Airbus equipment and has developed new routes to destinations in Europe. Its current fleet consists of Airbus A320-200, Airbus A321-200, Airbus A330-200 and Airbus A330-300. It is also due to take deliveries of A350 XWB aircraft, which offer greater fuel efficiency and thus a less harsh environmental footprint, beginning in 2009.

Passenger satisfaction is at the heart of Aer Lingus airline and the company offers a number of different services to ensure that customers' journeys are made as comfortable as possible.

The airline operates a FastPass to allow customers to avoid the queues by using a self-service check-in. FastPass kiosks are provided, complete with touch screen technology for easy use.

Aer Lingus' frequent flyers programme, the Gold Circle Club, helps to ensure that loyal customers get added benefits when flying with them.

Gold Circle Club membership is based on the number of points earned in the past year. Customers need 2,400 points to be a Gold member, while Elite and Prestige membership need a lower number of points.

The scheme also applies to travel on any oneworld scheduled services, excluding bonus points. Benefits afforded by the Aer Lingus Gold Circle Club include access to special lounges at all departure points on the airline's scheduled network.

Frequent flyers can also benefit from free flights, flight upgrades, priority check-in for Trans-Atlantic flights, personalised luggage tags and meal preferences.

While on board, customers can also choose from a range of hot and cold food items from the airline's Sky Café Menu, as well as inflight shopping. Passengers can also while away the time watching their choice of the latest films.

Aer Lingus was recently the target of an aggressive takeover bid by rival Irish airline Ryanair, which is a major stakeholder. The bid was vigorously opposed by Aer Lingus and others who believed that such a move risked forming a monopoly in Irish aviation.