Irish carrier Aer Arann (RE), which flies as Aer Lingus (EI) Regional, is finalizing a deal for eight new ATR 72-600 aircraft, plus options, and is hoping to hit two million passengers within four years.
RE chairman Padraig O'Ceidigh told ATW at the European Regions Airline Assn. General Assembly in Dublin he believes
the airline will double in size [in terms of passenger numbers] over the next three to four years. “We are already 37% up compared with last year.”
O'Ceidigh said the ATR order - which was reported by ATW in June (ATW Daily News, June 29) and confirmed by ATR at the Farnborough Airshow (ATW Daily News, July 11) - “is very, very much in the pipeline. We are definitely committed to ATR aircraft; the issue is timing more than anything else. There are a couple of things that need to come together and a big part of that relates to the Aer Lingus franchise. We don’t have an exact date - it is a slightly moveable feast - but we hope [to] conclude in the next three to four weeks.”
O'Ceidigh said he hopes “the first two aircraft will come in for the summer season, around May, because someone else had a slot they did not need. The rest will come over three years.”
RE has undergone significant changes in recent years. It forged a franchise agreement with Aer Lingus (EI) in January 2010 (ATW Daily News, Jan. 27 2010), but entered examinership -- the Irish equivalent of Chapter 11 - from August until November that year (ATW Daily News, Aug. 30, 2010). The entire RE fleet now flies as Aer Lingus Regional, under the EI franchise.
“Aer Lingus and Aer Arann … have been through tough times over the last three years,” EI CEO Christoph Mueller said. “We had our problems, from examinership to other issues, but have been able to master that. We have big plans for the future and I think our model might serve as an example for others
By Victoria Moores
Aer Arann Doubles Fleet Capacity
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