AER Lingus’ renaissance from a largely regional European airline to a truly international carrier will be complete by September, the date given for the airline to join British Airways-led Oneworld.
Membership of the alliance not only lends Aer Lingus clout among the world’s airlines, but also gives it access to a host of new routes, savings from co-operation with partners and global exposure.
All this is a far cry from the carrier which until recently struggled to make money from a mainly UK network, complemented by links to European capital cities.
The airline claimed to have had talks with all the major groups – Oneworld, Star Alliance, Qualiflyer and KLM-led Wings.
The deal gives Aer Lingus a partnership with American Airlines to grow a burgeoning transatlantic network, but also ensures an improved route system closer to home. In time the Irish state-owned airline will codeshare with BA on UK routes and elsewhere in Europe.
This part of the arrangement is also good news for BA, which does not serve Dublin from Heathrow. Instead BA flies from Gatwick in the guise of franchise carrier Cityflyer.
While BA and Aer Lingus have been battling it out on Dublin routes, rival British Midland has broken that duopoly. But with BA on its side now, Aer Lingus should regain dominance.
Codesharing around the UK will also help the airline in its bitter fight with low-cost carrier Ryanair.
The no-frills airline has built up strong traffic to Dublin from virtually all the regional airports that Aer Lingus serves.
Elsewhere in Europe, a deal with BA gives Aer Lingus access to all the major points without having to slug it out with flag-carriers as it currently does. In the future this may mean fewer non-stop flights from Dublin with frequencies routed through Heathrow.
Outside Europe, Aer Lingus only serves five US destinations – Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and New York JFK and Newark.
It plans to codeshare with American on these routes and feed passengers onto the carrier’s North American network.
Other future links with Oneworld carriers through Heath-row will give Aer Lingus access to Australasia with BA and Qantas, Asia with Cathay Pacific and Canada with Canadian Airlines. There will also be wider network implications through deals with Finnair, Iberia and LOT Polish Airlines.
Previously, Aer Lingus only codeshared with Finnair, KLM, which will be dropped, and Delta Air Lines – a tie-up which has been axed already.
To prove BA and American’s interest in Aer Lingus, both were believed to have offered to take a joint 10% stake in the carrier when it starts its privatisation process later this year.
However, the Irish Government is thought to favour a float, which will allow additional money to be raised to fund growth. BA and American may take stakes via this route.