New deal will see increased flights to Shannon

Delta Air Lines and British European have expanded their present codes-share agreement to include Shannon to Birmingham flights…

Delta Air Lines and British European have expanded their present codes-share agreement to include Shannon to Birmingham flights. They also have a new agreement for Dublin to Exeter flights.

The code-share agreements, allowing passengers to travel on both airlines using just the one ticket, follow a marketing agreement drawn up between the two airlines earlier this year.

Currently, Delta, which has a daily flight from Dublin and Shannon to Atlanta in the US, codeshares with British European from London Gatwick to Belfast. Delta is part of the SkyTeam global alliance network

The Birmingham agreement will allow Shannon passengers to travel on to Brussels with the same airline.

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A direct Shannon-Brussels service ended last March when Virgin Express Ireland closed but it was replaced by Ryanair.

British European has been operating a daily service to Birmingham for the past three years.

Delta has also announced that it will not be re-opening its Dublin/Shannon to New York service next summer, after the route was cancelled in the wake of the September 11th attacks on the US.

Meanwhile, a delegation of local tourist and trade interests, led by the chairman of Shannon Town Commissioners, Mr Michael McKee, arrived back from the US this week after meeting with their counterparts in New York.

Mr McKee said a series of meetings had been aimed at encouraging Irish-Americans to travel to the Midwest following the tourism slump in the region.

He added that tackling the loss of the "fβilte" had been emphasised at a meeting with US-based representatives of Irish State agencies.

"The 'cΘad m∅le fβilte' has been on the wane. It has been for quite a while," he said.