AER Lingus is to cut the number of transatlantic winter services from Ireland, dropping its seat capacity by as much as a quarter. The carrier has blamed a weakening in passenger numbers for the reduction.
The airline will suspend the Shannon-Chicago route from September and reduce its services between Shannon and Boston. The service between Shannon and New York “is under close review”.
The cuts are intended to continue through to March, but the summer schedule is also subject to review, the Limerick Post has learned.
The service reduction from Shannon is a further setback to the west of Ireland, where the tourism industry relies enormously on visitors from North America. Ryanair has already reduced its short-haul services at Shannon.The Mayor of Clare has called on Aer Lingus to invest more resources into the promotion of its existing transatlantic services.
Councillor Madeleine Taylor Quinn pointed out that Aer Lingus did not have a valid reason at this stage to discontinue its direct service from Shannon Airport to New York’. She said: “The New York to Shannon service is well supported during the winter months, as it has been for the past fifty years. Next month’s scheduled opening of US pre-clearance facilities at Shannon along with this week’s announcement by Delta Airlines that it will cease its Shannon-New York service in October after 13 years will further increase demand for this direct service”.
