Calls for airline to pull Cork flights

THE MAYOR of Shannon has called on Aer Lingus to pull some of their flights from Cork and Dublin airports to help boost Shannon Airport which is reeling from the loss of its Heathrow flights.

Fine Gael Cllr Sean McLoughlin described the decision by Aer Lingus to move their hub from the mid-west to Belfast as “nonsensical”.

“There was no need to take all the slots from Shannon. They have four slots rented out to other airlines. They could remove slots from other airlines in Ireland — one from Dublin and one from Cork,” he said.

He also called on the Government to join forces with Ryanair, both of which own 25% of Aer Lingus shares, to make the former national airline complete a U-turn on its decision.

Cllr McLoughlin said their combined muscle would be enough to force the board to reverse its decision to transfer the link to Aldergrove airport in the North.

Aer Lingus is expected to introduce at least six services from Aldergrove to mainland Europe.