Great news well done DTV
26 January 2010: Aer Lingus and Aer Arann have today announced that agreement has been reached to establish a franchise arrangement between the two airlines.
Under this franchise agreement Aer Arann will operate 12 routes from Dublin and Cork. The routes will include current Aer Lingus and Aer Arann routes as well as 3 new routes.
These franchise services will be branded as "Aer Lingus Regional" and operated using Aer Arann ATR 72-500 aircraft and crew. All franchise flights will be sold and distributed through
Aer Lingus- cheap flights, gift vouchers, hotels, car hire, & travel insurance. Aer Arann will assume full operational and commercial responsibility for the services covered by the franchise agreement with Aer Lingus receiving a franchise fee in recognition for providing its brand and product suite to Aer Arann.
The new agreement significantly increases Aer Lingus presence in the Ireland-UK market with new services to Ireland from Bristol, Blackpool, Cardiff, Doncaster/Sheffield, Durham, Glasgow and Edinburgh in addition to new seasonal services from Cork to Jersey in the Channel Islands and La Rochelle in France.