Aer Lingus made €84million pre tax profit in 2011, I'm not sure about flybe but last time I saw them on the news they were announcing a profit warning, somewhere in the £10million loss region. In terms of recognition Aer Lingus have been around since 1936 and their brand is transatlantic as well as european, the flybe brand was launched in 2002, although jersey european started in 1979 and it has grown massively in a short space of time including stock market floatation.