Belfast launch:Aer Lingus launched its €150 million investment in establishing a base at Belfast International Airport with special one-way fares of £5 to London Heathrow and £8 to Amsterdam.
With First Minister the Rev Ian Paisley and at least four other Northern Ministers looking on at Stormont yesterday, Aer Lingus's chief executive Dermot Mannion formally announced the company was opening up eight new routes from Belfast International Airport, commonly known as Aldergrove.
The investment will create 100 jobs at Aldergrove and, according to Mr Mannion, thousands of additional indirect jobs in the tourism and services industry. "This is a significant and groundbreaking development for Aer Lingus," he said.
The routes served will be London Heathrow, Amsterdam, Geneva, Barcelona, Faro, Malaga, Budapest and Rome. Other special one-way launch fares announced yesterday were £10 to Geneva and Barcelona and £29 to Faro, Malaga, Budapest and Rome. Special airport taxes and other charges will add to the cost of these fares.
Aer Lingus is also maintaining a partnership with British Airways at Heathrow and with KLM at Amsterdam so that passengers can make onward global journeys with bags "seamlessly transferred", said John Doran, managing director of Aldergrove.
"This development firmly establishes Belfast International as the gateway to the world for the northern part of the island of Ireland," he added.
Aer Lingus's arrival in the North will increase competition in the industry and seems certain to force down fares. "The launch of the eight routes has the potential to attract an additional one million passengers," said Mr Doran. This would bring passenger numbers to 6.5 million compared with more than 20 million at Dublin.
The company will base three Airbus 320 aircraft at Aldergrove. Initially it will run three daily return flights to Heathrow beginning on January 14th with an additional service in the spring. There will be two daily return flights to Amsterdam beginning on December 10th; five flights to and from Barcelona and two to Geneva, both beginning on December 10th; four flights to Rome and Malaga and three to Budapest and Faro beginning on February 25th.
Mr Mannion refused to say whether, as has been speculated, Aer Lingus would later open up new transatlantic routes from Aldergrove. "We will keep the situation under active review," he said. He added, however, that Aer Lingus "would lack nothing in the way of ambition in the way we want to develop services" at Belfast International Airport.
He said the new "political landscape in Northern Ireland has created exciting and unprecedented opportunities for economic growth in the region and Aer Lingus is very keen to play its role in that regard".
Dr Paisley said the announcement was great news for Northern Ireland and a "massive boost" to its economy.
Junior Sinn Féin Minister Gerry Kelly said: "This is another tangible sign that the peace dividend is working."
