Aer Lingus announces more Shannon flights from Birmingham Airport
AIRLINE Aer Lingus Regional is to increase the frequency of flights from Birmingham Airport to Shannon.
As part of an expansion at the airline it is doubling the number of flights from Birmingham to Shannon as well as increasing the number of flights flights to Manchester and launching a new service to Bristol.
It said the decision to expand its services – from next summer – to and from Shannon was related to the Government’s budget announcement to abolish the travel tax from April 2014.
The airline, which is operated by Aer Arann, said it expects to grow total passenger numbers from Shannon to 200,000 by the end of 2014, rising to 240,000 passengers by the end of 2015.
Chief executive Simon Fagan said: “The airline is determined to grow both our passenger numbers and route network. The addition of a new destination and the doubling of our capacity on two key routes from Shannon, provides real choice to the travelling public, and will serve to bring further visitors to the region.
“Our decision to move ahead with expansion in Shannon is directly related to the recent Government decision to abolish the travel tax, and is further evidence that sound policies can contribute to solid growth.”
He added: “Manchester and Birmingham are two of the UK’s biggest cities, with strong leisure and business relevance to passengers in the region. Equally, the two cities have large populations who can now benefit from further choice when looking to Shannon.”
