Aer Lingus cancelled a flight from New York to Shannon on Sunday, as well as the return leg yesterday, after the assigned aircraft was used on another route.
The aircraft which was due to fly passengers to Shannon was instead used on the New York to Dublin route after that plane was taken out of service.
The airline also saw two of its flights forced to return to their airports of origin after suffering technical problems on Sunday.
On Sunday afternoon, shortly after Aer Lingus flight EI-102 departed New York for Dublin, the pilot reported a maintenance issue. The pilot later told controllers that they had an issue with one of the Boeing 757-200’s engines.
The pilot requested permission to return to JFK but didn’t declare an emergency. Fire crews were standing by to inspect the aircraft’s undercarriage to ensure the brakes hadn’t overheated during the landing.
In the meantime, flight EI-110 from New York to Shannon was cancelled and that aircraft used instead to take the passengers from the troubled flight (EI-102) to Dublin.
The airline’s website said however the flight was cancelled due to “technical reasons.”
One passenger posted on Twitter: “Flight EI-110 from JFK to SNN not boarded. No info. No Aer Lingus rep. 5 hours late.”
The airline has not commented on the incident.
Also on Sunday, Aer Lingus flight EI-135 from Shannon to Boston was forced to return to Shannon after the crew reported several technical issues.
The flight, operated by Omni Air International on behalf of Aer Lingus, departed Shannon at 11.47pm. A short time later, as the Boeing 767-200 jet crossed the Clare coast, the crew requested permission to stop climbing so that they could go through their checklists.
The pilot initially reported a possible issue with the plane’s altimeter, an instrument that displays altitude. The flight levelled off at 10,000ft while the crew worked on resolving the issue. The pilot later told controllers that they had also detected an issue with the air speed indicator.
Soon afterwards, the flight turned around off the Galway coast an routed back to Shannon where it landed safely at 12.30pm. The aircraft was met by airport fire crews after it landed.
The flight continued its journey shortly after 3.00pm.
Last month, Aer Lingus cancelled its Shannon to Boston service as well as its return leg because it needed the plane to fly another route from Dublin.
In March, Aer Lingus cancelled its Boston to Shannon service for three days due to technical issues with an aircraft.