Aer Lingus may take court action with Ryanair

AER LINGUS is considering joining forces with Ryanair in launching a legal challenge to the aviation regulator's decision to allow the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) to raise the cost of check-in desks by 56 per cent.

Commenting on the move, Enda Corneille, Aer Lingus's corporate affairs director, said: "Aer Lingus is seriously considering being a party to that [Ryanair legal] action."

Ryanair announced on Monday that it planned to launch a High Court challenge to the decision by regulator Cathal Guiomard to allow the price increase. Mr Corneille said there was "a degree of common interest" in the two low-cost airlines jointly pursuing a legal action.

The move will surprise industry watchers given that Aer Lingus and Ryanair are fierce rivals. Aer Lingus last year shot down Michael O'Leary's audacious bid to acquire the airline. Ryanair is Aer Lingus's largest shareholder.

Mr O'Leary also sought to overturn Aer Lingus's decision to axe its Shannon-Heathrow route, a move resisted by Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus recently failed in an attempt to get Europe's Court of First Instance to strip Ryanair of its voting rights in the airline.

Mr Corneille said the move was a practical one. "We are users of the same facility," he said.

Aer Lingus operates 55 check-in desks at Dublin Airport. The DAA plans to increase the charge for these from €16,000 a year to €25,000. This would cost Aer Lingus €495,000 a year.

Aer Lingus yesterday announced a code-sharing arrangement with United Airlines in the US. It will begin on November 1st and replace Aer Lingus's deal with American Airlines.This follows a similar arrangement signed last year with US low cost carrier JetBlue, which went live last week.

The deal with United covers all seven of Aer Lingus's US gateways and provides access to 200 destinations on United's network. United's flight code will be placed on all Aer Lingus transatlantic flights to and from Shannon and Dublin. The deal should result in simplified reservations, ticketing, through check-in and coordinated baggage handling.

Mr Corneille said this deal complements its arrangement with JetBlue. "There is very little overlap between the two networks," he said. "JetBlue is very strong out of New York and the east coast while United is strong out of Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Denver."