Although Aer Lingus has yet to make a formal announcement, the Irish carrier has been granted 1500 slots - formerly held by Thomas Cook - at Manchester Airport.

Aer Lingus has said it will base 4 aircraft - an A330 and 3- A321LRs - at Manchester, which means it's likely the carrier plans to operate 4 transatlantic routes March-October next year.

No destinations have yet been announced, but considering the range of the aircraft Aer Lingus plans to base at Manchester, the US west coast (e.g., LAX) would be within reach of the A330, and all of the east coast - BOS, JFK, PHL, maybe even MCO - would be within range of the A321LRs.

Aer Lingus revealed in September that it will cut numbers of transatlantic flights from Shannon. And British Airways has no transatlantic flights from Manchester. So the new plan makes some sense.

Stay tuned for updates on destinations.