Aer Lingus has sought take off and landing times at Manchester Airport to allow them to offer flights between Britain and the US next year.
The airline have said they are hopeful that they will be able to operate a full summer schedule from Ireland in 2021, according to the Irish Times, despite continued uncertainty regarding air travel due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The application for slots at the English airport is thought to be a contingency plan in the event that Irish travel restrictions are not sufficiently eased and may not be used if they are found unnecessary.
This comes after the airline, owned by International Airlines' Group (IAG) who also run British Airways, sought tenders from UK airports for two Airbus A321 long-range jets.
The aircrafts are currently based at Shannon Airport, where Aer Lingus committed to providing routes to New York and Boston from as part of their summer schedule.
Meanwhile, Ireland's status under the EU traffic light system for international travel changed from red to orange yesterday after decreases in the 14-day incidence rate here.
It was hope that the EU travel initiative would aid the recovery of the aviation sector but due to the prevalence of the virus in Europe, the majority of the continent has been given a red status by the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC).
Air passengers arriving from orange regions can avoid the need to restrict their movements on arrival in a participating EU country if they supply a negative Covid-19 test from less than three days prior.
In Ireland, passengers arriving from red zones after November 29th will also be able to stop restricting their movements if they can produce a negative result five days after entering the Republic.
