Aer Lingus anxious for US expansion
Despite the recent tribulations in the US market and on t/a flights, Aer Lingus is anxious to increase access to the US and is encouraging the Irish government to renegotiate access to the US. Speaking at an Irish Mgmt Institute conference in Killarney, Willie Walsh, EI CEO, said that the airline could double its US traffic within two years and had indentified no less than 16 US destinations suitable for expansion, such as SFO, STL and DEN. Mr. Walsh also pointed to the likelihood of investment in new aircraft and frontline staff if that were to happen.
There have been positive moves this week, with Transport minister Seamus Brennan all but conceding that the stopover is on the way out. The EU governments are expected to cede the right to negotiate US bilaterals (and others) to the EU by the Summer and it's expected that this will be accompanied by a significant compensation package for the Shannon region.
Although Mr. Walsh emphasised the importance of increased transatlantic access, he added that it would not all be from Dublin and said that there would be significant opportunities for growth from Shannon, which had considerable tourism and business potential.