Aer Lingus goes east with Dubai service
Aer Lingus made history today with its first long-haul eastern flight to Dubai.
Launching the new thrice-weekly service, Minister for Transport Martin Cullen today said it marked a new era in the state airline’s growth and development as it embraces privatisation.
Dubai is the first eastern-bound and non-US long-haul route in the history of Aer Lingus, which aims to carry 70,000 passengers on the seven-hour flight over the next 12 months.
Mr Cullen said: “This new service offers a direct link with one of the world’s great commercial cities and an increasingly important tourist destination.
“It is good news for business, for leisure travel and for the airline and its staff.”
Dubai is one of the fastest-growing transfer hubs in the airline industry and opens up an array of new travel options for the travelling public, he said.
“It provides a highly-efficient stepping stone for those people who are travelling through the Middle East, Asia, Australia and southern Africa,” he added.
“On the commercial front, it will serve to enhance existing business linkages and boost our exporting potential, the lifeblood of our economy.”
The minister said today’s route will be the first of many to be launched by Aer Lingus in coming months.
He reiterated that the Government was pressing ahead with part-privatisation of the airline despite fierce union opposition.
“In a wider sense, today’s announcement is a sign of things to come. An array of new route opportunities is now presenting itself to the national airline, not least in the US market place as we move towards the realisation of open skies.
“Some of those opportunities will be able to be exploited next year with the delivery of two new wide-body aircraft. But Aer Lingus has greater ambitions, ambitions to match new opportunities.”
Mr Cullen said an Aer Lingus with financial muscle and commercial flexibility will realise its ambitions in the aviation industry.
“In the interests of the airline, its staff and customers, not to mention the wider economic interests of this country, I want to see Aer Lingus being given the capital and the commercial freedom to realise those ambitions.”
Mr Cullen said he and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen would be bringing proposals to Government to facilitate an investment transaction in the next number of weeks.
“If the airline is to maximise its potential, it needs external capital and the commercial flexibility it brings. This will result in future expansion, allow Aer Lingus to strengthen its balance sheet and provide the muscle to compete in the volatile aviation industry.
“This is not ideologically-driven. It is a pragmatic, optimal response to ensure that a strong Aer Lingus seizes the opportunities which are now at hand. A strong Aer Lingus is good for customers, staff and the economy as a whole.”
