BMI engage Aer Lingus in war of words

With the 2008 passenger figures issued by the CAA, BMI have engaged Aer Lingus in a war of words over the lucrative Belfast - Heathrow slots according to the Belfast Telegraph. The newspaper reports that BMI's Managing Director Peter Spencer has said that Aer Lingus' claim to have 40% market share on Belfast - Heathrow was 'inaccurate', adding that BMI had retained the majority of it's business passengers since Aer Lingus launched it's Belfast International service a year ago. 'I know how many passengers I carry and I know how many they carry and my mathematics is that we have 66% market share'.

He added that 'If Aer Lingus think they are doing so well, I'm not really sure I understand why they've dropped their frequency from four to three a day'.

In response, Aer Lingus director of corporate affairs Enda Corneille said that 'passengers are deserting them (BMI) in droves'.

To the end of December, the UK CAA's figures show that 238,754 passengers travelled on BFS-LHR, served only by Aer Lingus and 521,913 travelled BHD-LHR, served only by BMI which gives 31.3% to Aer Lingus and 68.7% to BMI.