Aer Lingus carries 250,000 on Heathrow flights

Aer Lingus carried 250,000 passengers on its flights from Belfast International Airport to London Heathrow in the first year of the service.

The airline's flights to Heathrow Airport began on January 14th 2008 as it launched ten routes from its new base at Belfast International Airport.

Flights are also available from the Northern Ireland hub to Barcelona, Paris, Milan, Munich, Rome, Amsterdam, Faro, Malaga and Lanzarote, with an Aer Lingus service to Tenerife set to begin in September this year.

The airline's base in Belfast is its first outside the Republic of Ireland and, according to Aer Lingus corporate affairs director Enda Corneille, it is a "continuing success story".

"In our first year of operations we took more than 750,000 bookings, that was 50 per cent ahead of our target and we are well on our way to our millionth booking," Mr Corneille added.

"Today we are delighted to celebrate a quarter of a million passengers on Heathrow alone. The service is a resounding success especially when one considers that in just 12 months we've captured around 40 per cent of the market from scratch."

Aer Lingus reported that it has seen a "massive jump" in bookings since the beginning of the year as customers begin to plan their summer holidays.

Posted by Kate, 16 January 2009 13:02

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• Amsterdam
• Barcelona
• Munich
• Paris
• Belfast
• Rome
• London
• Malaga
• Tenerife
• Aer Lingus