Aer Lingus Regional to expand UK services
Irish airlines are looking to pinch a greater share of UK transatlantic passengers after their Government announced it will abolish air travel tax from April 2014, allowing them to launch more competitive fares to the US.
Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Aer Arran, announced today it is to expand its services from UK regional airports to Shannon in the west of Ireland, which will provide preclearance connectivity with Aer Lingus’ expanded services to New York and Boston.
It will launch a new daily service between Bristol and Shannon and also double capacity on its existing flights to Birmingham by adding an additional daily flight, and a third daily flight will be added on the Manchester route.
The additional flights will enable passengers based near Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol to reduce their air tax as they will only pay air passenger duty on the short-haul flight to Ireland, and they could also avoid lengthy immigration queues on arrival in the US.
Aer Lingus Regional said it expects to double passenger numbers to 200,000 from Shannon next year, creating an additional 20 jobs. By the end of 2015, it expects numbers to grow to 240,000.
The airline confirmed that the decision to expand its services to and from Shannon was directly related to the Government’s budget announcement to abolish the travel tax from April 2014.
The new daily Bristol service will commence on April 3. The airline said further new routes and services would be announced shortly.
Aer Lingus Regional, which aims to double passenger numbers to over two million over the next five years, has overseen a 10 per cent rise in its passenger numbers in 2013 compared to the previous year.
Commenting on the new UK routes, Simon Fagan, chief commercial officer of Aer Arran said: ‘Bristol is one of the UK’s most vibrant cities, and is a popular destination from our other airports.
"We are delighted to add it to our Shannon offering because of Bristol’s close proximity to Bath, Cardiff, Newport and Gloucester which is ideal for travelling Rugby fans. We expect to carry 25,000 passengers on the Bristol route in the first year, operating daily flights.
"Manchester and Birmingham are two of the UK’s biggest cities, with strong leisure and business relevance to passengers in the region. Equally, the two cities have large populations who can now benefit from further choice when looking to Shannon.
"Aer Lingus Regional will be working hard with our various partners such as Shannon Airport, Discover Ireland, Chambers of Commerce and local businesses to promote the additional services and ensure their future success."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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