Aer Lingus transfer SNN-LHR flights to BFS

Empty vessels make the most noises, as my mother used to say.

I heard one Clare politician mentioning on Saturday morning that Limerick, Clare, Galway and North Tipp would be very adversely affected by this.

Really. I work in Nenagh and I can tell you that it's a big non story - apart from the professional whingers who take take take (see the WRC). Why? Well, maybe not that many people actually depend upon it in the way this has been exaggerated.

Yes, there is a tradition of "what we have - we hold" - well, sorry lads, shows over. I laugh at the fact that it appears that some companies in the private sector want another one (AL) to take it hit on their behalf.

So, a hotel has put on hold its great plans to expand. Nothing to do with the gross costs of living in this country, nothing to do with the fact that we've become such a nasty shower that failte Ireland has to spend money on a billboard campaign telling us to be nice to tourists? There are many reasons why a hotel may not expand, AL is a cheap and easy way of escaping the blame.

Here's the interesting bit. All of a sudden Shannon releases the news that AL can save €4million (with some part of that being apparently on the AL side- how would Shannon know that?) Well, AL must be kicking themselves so because that implies that Shannon has been ripping them off, and also implies that other airlines using Shannon are being likewise ripped off.

I think that the Shannon Management may have let a cat out of the bag with their panic stricken press conference last Friday. I'm sure that Ryanair and the likes may have some questions as to how such savings can suddenly appear.

Are there alternatives? Well, I'm sure that Cork will now buy loads of advertising in the regional papers and point out that they can get you there. I'm sure all the other carriers into London from Shannon will do likewise.

Meanwhile, Shannon will have to get its act together. They should now get on with attracting KLM and point out that Amsterdam is a better alternative to Heathrow. They have to do something that they have never had to do before - justify their existence. And, sorry lads, that means bringing in the cold hard cash to run the place - not rely on political favours and priests in pulpits saying that a private company has a "moral obligation" to provide a service to the West of Ireland. Those priests may be interested to hear that no matter what the position of the meek may be in the afterlife, in this life they go to the wall.

OTK wrote:

There is a morning flight from ryanair arriving at 8:00 in Stansted. There are flights home in the afternoon and evening from Gatwick and Stansted.

Sure, that's fair comment. But still, it isn't convenient for a large part of London. Ryanair isn't a business airline either, and doesn't claim to be.

Would you consider Northern Ireland part of the 'Irish Nation'. We still issue passports to anyone from NI and I would hazard that a majority of NI residents consider themselves 'Irish', even those who also consider themselves British. Belfast is a deprived area of this island.

I have been told that the decision was made solely on cost grounds. Part of the high costs of operating from Shannon were due to the unco-operative approach of the unions. EI's ground staff numbers have already been seriously reduced in recent years as they have lost business they used to provide to other airlines. This should have been a profit centre for Aer Lingus but it appears that the worker's shop stewards have negotiated their way to the dole queue.

The west as a region has far less infrastructure than Belfast.

I fully agree that the local players down in Shannon have a lot to answer for in this.

*cought* bullsh!t *cough*

lostinsuperfunk - interested to know why you think CDG a better outcome than LHR - are we talking about services or about ease of transfer?

This the wake up call Shannon Airport Management & Staff should have received 5 years ago. The stopover is dead & the easy gravy train that accompanied it is to go too. Shannon has a runway that can support long distance flights & probably 1m population catchment area so why no new destinations & airlines? Most of the country would prefer to fly from Shannon than Dublin given a choice.

The people in the Mid-West deserve what they get as they voted for FF. Sure only 4 1/2 years to the next General Election

Shannon Airport gave 100k redundancy to catering staff to more to private operator a few months ago. Sure even the staff that stayed with the Airport for a 16k payout. Why should the rest of us continue to subsidise such waste.

AL are clearly setting up a hub at Belfast so they will pay people via AL UK company with pay & conditions that comes with that. If they setup a hub in Spain they will employee people on Spanish conditions & pay.

Its difficult to describe how stupid Willie O'Dea is. :eek:

interested to know why you think CDG a better outcome than LHR - are we talking about services or about ease of transfer?

I've found CDG easier to negotiate than LHR for transfers. I'd imagine the choice of European routes from LHR and CDG is similar but I never fly long haul so I don't know how they compare on that. Also, there are good rail connections from CDG. Maybe Amsterdam would be even better?

I agree with McSpud, Willie O'Dea is exceptional, even by the standards of Irish politicians. It's our fault for electing people like him though.

RedAlert's idea is interesting. Would a foreign EU government be allowed to control the use of Heathrow slots? BAA mightn't like it, but maybe there would be nothing they could do about it.