Aer Lingus chief bullish over Belfast move

Aer Lingus will go all out to capture the corporate and public service market when it opens its Belfast hub, its commercial director said today.

Enda Corneille said the airline, which launches its first routes to Amsterdam and Barcelona on December 10 – adding six more including London Heathrow before the end of February – planned to be profitable in year one.

The airline became involved in a storm of protest when it announced it was scrapping services out of Shannon to open the Belfast - Heathrow route. But Mr Corneille said he believed it was the right move.

“Belfast is critical to our development on the island,” he said at a news briefing in Belfast. “ We are not considering failure.”

And he said the agreement of pilots to terms and conditions in Belfast meant the company would not be importing what he called “the crazy stuff” from Ireland.

He revealed passengers flying on long haul international routes out of Heathrow and Amsterdam would be able to book their baggage through from Belfast to their final destination, thanks to new code share agreements they had made with British Airways and KLM.

And despite bookings going very well, he promised more reduced prices being offered in the run up to launch date. “We want to ensure we have full aeroplanes, like in the period after Christmas when demand is weak.”

Mr Corneille said: “We are encouraged by the bookings, and we have only met encouragement and welcome from everyone, be that politicians or customer groups.”

Three planes, named after Irish saints, will be based in Belfast and Mr Corneille said an expansion of the base to five or six aircraft – bringing with them many more destinations – was a possibility down the line.