AER Lingus is to launch three new direct services from Belfast
International at the start of its winter schedule, in late October.
The destinations are Milan, Munich and Lanzarote.
Milan and Munich would be strong city break destinations and would
also be expected to attract two-way tourism traffic as well as
business travellers. Lanzarote on the other hand would be an almost
totally holiday/leisure-oriented market.
Aer Lingus already operates services to Nice, Amsterdam, Barcelona,
Rome, Budapest, Malaga, Faro and Paris. Hower, a casualty of the new
routes is expected to be the Budapest service which is likely to be
discontinued later this summer.
The airline also operates 27 weekly flights from Belfast
International to Heathrow, providing the first link from Aldergrove
to Heathrow since the terrorist attacks on 9/11 when British Airways
discontinued its service, and bmi (formerly British Midland) moved to
Belfast City Airport.
Aer Lingus is also providing additional capacity to Malaga, upping
its schedule to five flights a week.
George Best Belfast City Airport meanwhile, could be about to lose
one of its operators shortly.
It's believed that the Cityjet/Air France service to London City
Airport will be withdrawn before the end of May.
At time of going to Press, bookings could still be made for the
summer on the airline's website, but a combination of factors,
chiefly low passenger numbers, are believed to have led to a decision
to discontinue the service.
A Press spokesperson for the company refused to comment on the
speculation, but added, perhaps significantly: "We will be making an
announcement shortly."