Aer Lingus to cut fares on premier-class routes to US

Aer Lingus is to cut charges on its premier-class transatlantic flights by half and is planning to lift restrictions on all fares in a further step towards reinventing itself as a low-cost air carrier.

The State airline plans to cut the cost of a Dublin-Shannon-New York return flight from €3,815 to €2,200, or €1,100 one way, exclusive of tax.

It will cut the price of a Dublin-Los Angeles return flight from €4,971 to €3,000, or €1,500 one way, also exclusive of tax.

A spokeswoman said it was ending the policy of offering return flights to the US as a package and instead would switch permanently to offering one-way tickets from both sides of the Atlantic.

Up to this, where it sold only one-way tickets, they cost well over half the full return price. One-way charges to and from New York were €2,479. That has now been cut to €1,100.

Aer Lingus began advertising the new lower fares in the US on Monday and announced the move last night.

Before the last crisis struck the airline three years ago, the transatlantic routes accounted for more than half of the airline's profits. In turn, premier class accounted for 60 per cent of the surplus generated on the US flights.

That dependence has changed, as Aer Lingus has switched its focus to developing more short-haul low-cost routes to Europe, putting it into competition with airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet.

However, transatlantic flights are still strategically important to the company and accounted for 1.1 million passengers last year, or almost one in five of all travellers with the airline. It has already cut economy class fares on these routes.

It also announced yesterday that it has dropped all restrictions from its air fares. It has begun selling all flights on a one-way basis and has lifted all minimum stay requirements imposed as a condition of getting the best fares.

It will also allow changes in flying arrangements and name changes on tickets, but will charge €25 and €50 extra respectively for making these changes.