Aer Arann and Aer Lingus have agreed a franchise arrangement for a number of routes from Dublin and Cork.
The airlines will operate 12 routes from Dublin and Cork as part of the deal, including three new routes, and will be branded as Aer Lingus Regional services. The flights will be sold through Aer Lingus's website, and the airline will receive a franchise fee for the arrangement, but the routes will be the operational and commercial responsibility of Aer Arann and will use its ATR 72-500 aircraft and crew.
Aer Arann chief executive Paul Schütz described the deal as a "major development for Irish aviation and the tourism industry".
The frequency of services on some of the routes will increase as a result, particularly between Dublin and Glasgow and Edinburgh. A new route between Cork and Glasgow will also launch, with six roundtrip services per week.
The deal sees Aer Lingus increases its presence in the Ireland-UK market, adding routes to Ireland from Bristol, Blackpool, Cardiff, Doncaster/Sheffield, Durham, Glasgow and Edinburgh, along with new seasonal services between Cork and Jersey in the Channel Islands and La Rochelle in France.
Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller welcomed the new deal. "This franchise agreement is good news for all stakeholders in Aer Lingus as it will allow us to serve key regional destinations, linking them with our Dublin transatlantic network as well as offering our business and leisure customers improved schedule and frequency options," he said.
