Aer Lingus staff run Ryanair into the ground

Aer Lingus proved at the weekend that it is as "fleet" of foot as it is in the air by taking the title of "fastest airline in the world", even showing a clean pair of heels to arch-rival Ryanair.

The carrier was one of a number of airlines, airports and aviation companies which took part in the “bud:runway run” with more than 600 competitors racing along the runway at Budapest Airport in aid of a pool of child cancer charities and other good causes.

Not only did Aer Lingus take the title of fastest airline, but its fleet-cost manager Robert Murphy, showed he is as efficient at covering kilometres as he is at cutting costs. He ran the 12km course — four lengths of the Budapest runway — in a time of 41:26.

Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Müller welcomed his team back to its Dublin headquarters and said the win epitomised the “can-do spirit of the people who work for this great community-spirited airline”. He said Aer Lingus was not only one of Europe’s most punctual airlines, “but also now the undisputed Fastest Airline in the World”.

Though runway runs are popular community events in the US, they are extremely hard to stage in Europe where runway capacity is constrained at major airports. Therefore, in an exceptionally rare move, Budapest Airport closed the normally extremely active runway for just a few hours in order to stage the race.