Aer Lingus-JetBlue link closer

One More Thing:Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion will next week fly to New Jersey to put pen to paper on a deal which will see it link up with JetBlue, a low-fares carrier in the United States.

The arrangement, which Aer Lingus has been keen to stress is not an alliance, will allow passengers flying from Dublin and Shannon to take onward connecting flights with JetBlue when they touch down in Boston and New York.

JetBlue serves about 51 destinations in the US, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Passengers in Ireland will be able to book the flights via the Aer Lingus website. The plan is to use just one ticket for the entire booking and the hope is that luggage can be checked through to the final destination from either Dublin or Shannon, taking a lot of the hassle out of switching flights in US airports.

Aer Lingus hopes that the service will go live on its website in August. To date, Mannion has been coy about how much the deal will yield Aer Lingus, saying only that it would be a "revenue-enhancing" measure.

It also comes in advance of Open Skies, with Aer Lingus planning to offer services to Washington, Orlando and San Francisco later this year.

The timing of the deal is a little unfortunate, as JetBlue has spent the past couple of months battling negative press across the Atlantic following the cancellation of hundreds of flights during a cold snap in February.

The airline is reported to have paid more than $30 million in compensation to passengers left stranded at various airports. JetBlue's chief executive, David Neeleman, held his hands up and apologised for the fiasco.

Mannion has promised a "seamless travel product" for passengers. It remains to be seen whether JetBlue can hold up its end of the bargain.