New Belfast based launched by Aer Lingus
10.12.07
The first flights from Aer Lingus' new hub at Belfast International Airport today at 06:00 with flights to Amsterdam and Barcelona. Flights to Geneva are due to start tomorrow. The facility is the airline's first base outside the Republic.
Aer Lingus will launch flights to nine destinations from the base over the next few months, including a Heathrow service on January 14, with flights to Budapest, Faro, Malaga and Rome starting in February, and flights Nice starting in March. Three aircraft will initially operate from the new base, and the airline has employed 30 pilots and 60 cabin crew in Belfast as part of the €140m investment.
The decision to open the new base has proved controversial. The Irish airline is to scrap flights from Shannon in Ireland to Heathrow next month in order to use the slots at the London airport for a new Belfast shuttle service, which provoked a storm of protest. In addition the airline's pilots threatening industrial action over the new pay and conditions in Northern Ireland and a strike was averted last month by a last minute deal.
Aer Lingus chief executive, Dermot Mannion, said the airline expected to exceed its target of 500,000 passengers travelling on its Belfast flights in its first year of business. The airline has said that it plans more new hubs outside of Ireland, in order to reduce its dependence on its Dublin base. Irish rival Ryanair has more than 20 hubs spread across Europe, with its largest base outside of Ireland at Stansted Airport.
The additional flights will help push total passenger numbers at Belfast International through the six million mark next year.
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