Stobart Air

Aer Arann was established in 1970 by James Coen and Ralph Langan to provide an island-hopping air service between Galway and the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. Operations, using a single Britten-Norman Islander, began in August 1970. This service has since been moved to the less distant Connemara Airport and operates as Aer Arann Islands. As of 2026, it still uses Islander aircraft.

The turning point for the airline was in 1994 when Pádraig Ó Céidigh and Eugene O'Kelly purchased the airline. Ó Céidigh and O'Kelly began to expand the airline's routes and fleet, launching scheduled services in 1998. Also in 1998, the Irish government awarded the airline the Public service obligation (PSO) route between Donegal Airport and Dublin Airport, followed by the PSO route between Sligo Airport and Dublin.

In 2002, service to the United Kingdom and Jersey was introduced, followed by service to Lorient and Nantes in Brittany in 2004.

In 2007, Aer Arann had a turnover of €100 million and passenger numbers in excess of 1.15 million.

In 2008, in recognition of the company's marketing achievements, the Head of Sales and Marketing, Colin Lewis, was awarded the All Ireland Marketing Leader of the Year Award by the Marketing Institute of Ireland.

In 2008, Aer Arann entered into a franchise agreement with Nex Aviation and introduced service to Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Málaga and Faro, using British Aerospace 146 aircraft during the summer months. The Amsterdam service, which was operated by an ATR 72-500, ended on 14 January 2009.

In October 2008, the airline announced that it would be implementing a cost-saving programme, due to the downturn in passenger traffic, which would involve some focus on charter flights and leasing of aircraft and their crews to other airlines. The airline stated that up to 100 redundancies would be needed, but this was later revised to 70, which would represent a 20% reduction of staff. The airline's key routes were to remain unchanged.

In January 2010, Aer Arann and Aer Lingus founded Aer Lingus Regional, which effectively removed Aer Arann's hubs at Cork and Dublin under the new airline.

In July 2010, Aer Arann confirmed it would end flights between Cork-Belfast and Cork-Dublin from 31 August 2010. The company's press release stated, "we sincerely regret having to suspend these services and the inconvenience that it will cause our loyal customers on both routes. Unfortunately, however, we have an aircraft leaving the fleet and this has an obvious but regrettable impact on our schedule. Aer Arann had operated flights on the Cork to Dublin route since 2001 and began service from Cork to Belfast in March 2004 after the demise of the airline JetMagic. Aer Arann now no longer operates from Cork Airport in its own entity but continues to expand its presence at Cork under the Aer Lingus Regional brand.

On 26 August 2010, an examiner was appointed to Aer Arann. A full hearing of the company's application took place on 8 September, and Aer Arann was in interim examinership under the protection of the Court. All Aer Arann flights continued to operate normally. It was understood by the High Court in Dublin that Aer Arann would return to profitability in 2011.

In October 2010, British logistics company Stobart Group was named as the preferred buyer for the airline, also announcing that the airline would serve London Southend Airport from March 2011 to destinations in Ireland and possibly France and open a base there.

On 10 November 2010, the deal was completed. Aer Arann is now owned by Everdeal Limited, which at the time became 67.5% owned by Pádraig Ó Céidigh, Aer Arann's Chairman; 27.5% owned by Tim Kilroe, a UK-based businessman; and 5% owned by the Stobart Group, through 35 preference shares of €1 each acquired on 10 November 2010. Stobart Group entered into an option to increase its shareholding by a further 27.5% to 32.5%.

On 7 April 2011, Aer Arann confirmed it would end its PSO (Public Service Obligation) routes after the Irish Government withdrew funding for the routes, which included Dublin to Galway, Knock and Sligo.

In October 2011, Aer Arann announced it would suspend all services from Galway Airport, axed routes including Galway to Edinburgh, London-Luton, London-Southend, Manchester and Lorient. The company said the routes were "financially no longer viable". Galway Airport then confirmed it would have to make redundant 40 staff due to losing the airport's only operator.

On 8 February 2012, Aer Arann's Chief Executive, Paul Schutz resigned and was replaced by Sean Brogan, the head of Stobart Ireland. This gave Stobart Group management control of the airline, and prompted speculation that it would exercise its option to increase its 5% stake in Everdeal Limited by a further 27.5% to 32.5%.

On 2 March 2012, it was confirmed that Aer Arann was in final discussions to transfer all of its own operated flights to the Aer Lingus Regional brand. This would mean Aer Arann would operate on behalf of Aer Lingus Regional, with the airline no longer operating routes as its entity.

On 14 March 2012, Aer Arann confirmed it would no longer exist in its own entity from 10 April 2012.