Aer Lingus announce Belfast cutbacks

Aer Lingus today announced that it would be cutting back it's operation at it's Belfast hub later this year as it responds to the current economic climate and falling passenger numbers. The airline's services to Barcelona, Paris, Milan, Rome and Faro will be suspended between October 1 and March 31 next with the result that the Belfast base strength will drop from three aircraft to two. Aer Lingus said that it was still committed to Belfast and was adding a new route to Tenerife next winter while continuing to serve Munich, Malaga, Lanzarote and London Heathrow. 

Three of the suspended routes are in direct competition with easyJet who also serve Faro, Barcelona and Paris. EasyJet spokesman Andrew McConnell said that the move highlighted the 'folly' of Aer Lingus in trying to compete with the low cost carrier. 

Ryanair's Stephen McNamara said that the removal of one aircraft by Aer Lingus was merely 'rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic', (no pun intended, no doubt) predicting that the move would soon be repeated in Gatwick. Mr. McNamara further pointed out that since it opened it's base in late 2007, Aer Lingus has launched and cancelled a total of nine routes in just over a year.

National broadcaster RTE's news service reports that the airline has told the 100 staff based in Belfast that no redundancies will result from the cutbacks. 

Aer Lingus also announced today that it would be withdrawing one aircraft from service at Dublin this coming winter.