Aer Lingus Regional Adds Dublin - London Southend

A day after London Southend Airport celebrated the formal opening of its new passenger terminal, its parent company Stobart Group has confirmed a new regular link from the Essex facility to the Irish capital Dublin, a flight that will provide onward connections to the United Sates. The three times daily service will be provided by Aer Lingus Regional from May 10, 2012 and will be operated by Aer Arann, a regional carrier that Stobart acquired control of in October 2010 after the airline entered bankruptcy protection.

Stobart Group CEO Andrew Tinkler said: "This is a further exciting development for London Southend in what is a pivotal year in the airport's history,” said Andrew Tinkler, Chief Executive Officer, Stobart Group. "Dublin is a welcome addition to the services we offer, especially with the fast and efficient onward connections to the US. This, together with the existing Waterford route and easyJet's first services from next month, will take the airport to over 100 flights a week from May 2012."

The new link will further increase capacity in the busy Dublin – London market. There are currently more than 286 flights a week between the two capitals providing just under 50,000 seats in each direction. As the table below highlights, Irish carrier Aer Lingus dominates the market with a 48.9 per cent share of capacity this month. Ryanair, which offers flights to three London airports has a 37.8 per cent share of the available seats, BMI British Midland International 8.1 per cent and CityJet, which operates between Dublin and London City for Air France, has a 5.4 per cent share.

Source: OAG iNET (March 14 – 20, 2012)

Under a franchise agreement between the two airlines Aer Lingus Regional flights are operated by Aer Arann using its own ATR turboprop aircraft and crew. This year there will be a significant increase in flights under the Regional brand with new services from Dublin to Bournemouth (from May 1, 2012) and a seasonal Shannon to Rennes (from June 9, 2012) and increased frequencies this summer on nine existing routes.