Lynne Embleton is first-ever female CEO of Aer Lingus

The first-ever female chief executive of Aer Lingus has been appointed, with Lynne Embleton, who has been chief executive and chairman of IAG (the owner of the airline) Cargo since 2017, in the role.

She succeeds Donal Moriarty, who has been interim chief executive at the carrier since role last year.

Embleton comes highly experienced; she previously held a number of roles at British Airways (she joined in 1992), from managing director at Gatwick to director of strategy and chairman of BA CityFlyer.

TravelMedia welcome the appointment of Lynne Embleton newly appointed chief executive of @AerLingus who will start her new role on 6 April 2021.
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— Travel Media Europe (@TravelMedia_ie) February 25, 2021

Luis Gallego, IAG Chief Executive, said he is confident that Embleton had the skills needed to take on what is quite a task, leading the airline through (and out of) the pandemic.

“At IAG Cargo Ms Embleton has led the company as it adapted rapidly to the Covid-19 pandemic and has made significant progress in digitally transforming the business,” he said.

She’ll take up the role on April 6th.

Before Covid-19 restrictions shut air travel across Europe and the US last year, Aer Lingus was planning to launch several new services to North America. The airline also had plans to begin flying to New York and other US destinations from Manchester Airport this year, which they still have to confirm.