Aer Lingus confirm Gatwick flight cuts
09.01.10
Aer Lingus confirmed yesterday that it will scale back its presence at Gatwick Airport, less than a year after establishing a base there, the Irish Times reports. The airline will cut five aircraft at the base down to three, eliminating 10 routes including flights Tenerife, Warsaw, Bucharest and Faro from the end of March. Three existing routes to Dublin, Knock and Malaga will be retained, while a route to Cork will be added.
Aer Lingus said the Gatwick curtailment reflected ‘weak consumer demand and continuing challenges in the UK operating environment’. Among the principal difficulties has been aggressive price competition from easyJet, which yesterday said it would add three new aircraft to its Gatwick base, bringing its fleet there to 43.
However, suggestions from Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, that Aer Lingus was reviewing the future of its base in Belfast were yesterday dismissed. Enda Corneille, Aer Lingus commercial director, said: ‘Belfast is performing well and there are no plans to change capacity.'
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