Aer Lingus pulling out of Belfast
Aer Lingus is to follow British Airways by pulling out of Belfast next month.
A spokesman for Belfast International Airport urged the executive and the British and Irish governments to take action to protect services.
Aer Lingus last night confirmed that it is to stop the five-times-a-week service to Shannon and onward to a number of destinations in America.
An airport spokesman said: “There is obviously a very difficult situation within the airline industry at the moment but this is Ireland’s national carrier looking at pulling a route out of Belfast.”
He added: “We have spoken to everyone we can today and clearly, the assistance has to come from higher up. The airport can only do so much to keep Aer Lingus in Northern Ireland. We need help politically to keep the situation alive.”
The spokesman also urged the British government to act to protect the British Airways Belfast slots at Heathrow.
He said: “BA want those slots for long-haul services. It is nothing to do with loyalty to Northern Ireland. It is nothing to do with the economics of the route. They should take those slots from them and keep them for Northern Ireland.”
South Antrim MP and former BA communications director David Burnside said airlines should “hold their nerve”.
0He has written to the British prime minister and BA chairman Lord Marshall, urging the airline to rethink its decision.