THE introduction of a Shannon to Edinburgh route, operated by Aer Arann, has come as an additional boost for the airport, following the announcement of the airline’s new service to Gatwick.
The increase in operations will mean an additional 50 jobs at the airline, bringing its total number of employees to 370.
The Edinburgh service will operate five days a week and will be the fifth route from Shannon to be operated by the Aer Arann/Aer Lingus franchise, which began on July 1 2010.
An increase to existing UK routes will also be introduced as part of the Aer Lingus Regional summer schedule.
Aer Arann’s Chief Executive Paul Schutz, said that the airline had “turned a huge corner” since it entered into examinership last year.
He told the Limerick Post that the addition of further routes was not out of the question.
“Our summer schedule is set at present, but we won’t rule anything out”.
“The addition of the Edinburgh route marks an achievement on all parts and demonstrates the strength of the agreement with Aer Lingus,” he commented.
The service will begin on March 27, the same date as the Aer Lingus’ new Gatwick service.
The franchise will also begin its summer schedule on this date, which will include additional flights to Manchester on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, and an increase in the Birmingham service, while the Shannon to Glasgow route will operate three times per week.
Andrew Kelly, Aer Arann director of corporate affairs, told this newspaper that the additional flights marked a 36% increase in their departures from Shannon, compared to last year, while Shannon mayor Tony Mulcahy said that putting on smaller planes more frequently made more economic sense and would “build long term sustainable business” around the airport.
