Airline could land 1,000 new jobs
Up to 1,000 jobs could be created if Ireland’s national airline chooses Belfast as its new UK base.
Aer Lingus is considering the International Airport at Aldergrove as its base in a major expansion.
As well as jobs, the move would give people access to 15 new European routes and the Belfast International to Heathrow link would be re-instated.
Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson said it would be a substantial investment boost for Northern Ireland.
“Aer Lingus is a respected carrier with its eye on growth opportunities in the United Kingdom; meanwhile the International Airport is growing its business at an impressive rate,” he said.
“The two could not be better suited as Aer Lingus seek to expand their United Kingdom operations.”
I put the title as it is as the local MP is claiming on radio and tv this morning that its a foregone conclusion that they are starting up. Pinch of Salt is needed with our Jeffery some time….
By: JohnSwitzer - 14th June 2007 at 12:55
Less room at Belfast City than there is at Belfast International.
I hear City of Derry Airport is looking for new airlines! Im sure a good deal is on the cards especially if your not too worried about bird control and sinking into taxiways! :diablo:
Additionally, I’m sure any airline could look forward to copious amounts of taxpayers’ money being thrown at them by the British and Irish Government and would benefit from the close proximity of an alternative landing strip at Ballykelly :rolleyes:
Regards
John
By: andrewm - 13th June 2007 at 16:31
Less room at Belfast City than there is at Belfast International.
I hear City of Derry Airport is looking for new airlines! Im sure a good deal is on the cards especially if your not too worried about bird control and sinking into taxiways! :diablo:
By: Cycling Spotter - 13th June 2007 at 13:11
Aer Lingus commercial director Enda Corneille said it was still weighing up the options for its new base, with Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester still in the mix, alongside Belfast City Airport and Belfast International Airport.
Link to full article: http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/donaldson-urges-aer-lingus-to-use-belfast-700881.html
By: Mark L - 12th June 2007 at 17:47
To be fair this rumour has been doing the rounds for years. There must be some reason why a journalist has picked up on it now, and I don’t think we can credit better monitoring of pprune for it (hmm, well maybe not)!
Despite needing to take a pinch of salt with anything Donaldson says, the fact that he is welcoming an Aer Lingus base at all clearly says something too…
Hope all you guys in Belfast have escaped the flooding today, looked pretty bad. I thought it was meant to be summer! :rolleyes:
By: andrewm - 12th June 2007 at 15:49
No slots, no aircraft, no stands, no check in desks, no facilities = no Aer Lingus at Belfast IMO
Maybe its Belfast City lol!
By: SHAMROCK321 - 12th June 2007 at 15:29
This is the first time BFS has really been mentioned. They have said they will definitley open a new UK base but MAN and BHX were favourites.
EI have 22 daily flights into LHR so if they took 1 each from SNN and ORK and 3 from DUB it would still leave all routes with excellent frequencey ORK-3 SNN-3 and DUB-10 so 6 flights on BFS-LHR would be perfect.
Other routes from the new UK base which have been mentioned are mainly to Eastern Europe RIX, VNO etc as well as TFS.
The EI shorthaul package is as good as if not better than the other LCC in the UK with assigned seating and comfy new A320s with 32′ leg room.
They hope to have it open for next January/Febuary so an announcement should come pretty soon.
By: MontyP - 12th June 2007 at 14:19
No slots, no aircraft, no stands, no check in desks, no facilities = no Aer Lingus at Belfast IMO
By: LBARULES - 12th June 2007 at 13:55
It certainly would be a major boost for Belfast, and would be interesting to see how the LHR service competed against the bmi service from BHD.
By: David2386 - 12th June 2007 at 11:08
The rumours have been going on for weeks now, including 6 Heathrow rotations though no one can work out where EI will find 6 slots. Then more talk about if it does happen, it’ll be starting in November but EI has no spare aicraft until early next year when more arrive. Maybe Shamrock knows a bit more?
It’ll be great IF it does happen, IF…
Sign In
June 12, 2007 at 10:58 am