Aer Lingus 'Takes Off' With 1m Belfast Passengers

Ireland's state-backed airline has become an inflight 'millionaire' as troubled Aer Lingus reveals bookings in the North have soared ahead of target.

Despite bad news this week on its overall financial performance, the Irish flag-carrier has now taken 1m bookings in the 17 months since it began operating from its controversial Belfast hub.

The Aldergrove International Airport in Belfast base has proved to a fillip for the otherwise ailing company.

The establishment of the base in Belfast caused controversy because it involved switching Heathrow connections from Shannon.

Now, it has emerged as the second biggest carrier operating from Aldergrove behind low-cost airline Easyjet.

Aer Lingus points to the load factor on its Belfast to London flights, as 79% of its seats were occupied, which is up a quarter on figures from April last year.

The Belfast to Malaga, Lanzarote and Paris routes are also proving popular.

However, the airline recently announced it planned to reduce some of its services from Belfast and Dublin because of the economic downturn.

Aer Lingus Chief Executive Officer Dermot Mannion has also recently handed in his resignation.

The airline's Chairman, Colm Barrington stepped in until a successor is appointed.

The resignation of Mr Mannion in April, who joined the airline in 2005, was as a major surprise in the industry.

Last summer, the airline was weathering badly in Belfast - with this million passenger target being a major boost.

In August 2008, the six month figures from the UK's Civil Aviation Authority showed just over 109,000 passengers used the Belfast to Heathrow link, well behind the 170,000 passengers who used Shannon to Heathrow during the same period in 2007.

Meanwhile, Ryanair, which operates from the smaller George Best Airport, near Belfast city centre has claimed today that compared to Aer Lingus at Aldergrove over the past 17 months, its services attracted 50% more passengers.

Ryanair says it did so while using one Belfast-based aircraft, compared to the three planes located at Aldergrove by Aer Lingus.

See: Mannion Quits Aer Lingus For 'New Ideas'

See: Aer Lingus Dismisses 'Bankrupt' Claim

See: Low Flying Aer Lingus Still Committed To NI

(BMcC)