Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 2 April 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications

Proposed Sale of Aer Lingus: (Resumed) Virgin Atlantic Airlines

10:30 am

Mr. Joe Thompson:

We look at lots of things, but the reality is that we have not operated long-haul services directly from Ireland and it is not currently in our plans to do so. Our perspective is that we do provide a very valuable advantage to Irish consumers through the connections we are able to offer and the choice we are able to create for consumers by working in partnership with Aer Lingus on flights operated between the UK and Ireland. It is a long-standing relationship and significant volumes of customers use the flights. Just as we were arriving at the gate and chatting to John on the door, he described his experience of doing exactly that a few years ago to fly between Dublin and JFK in New York. He flew with Aer Lingus and then connected onto the Virgin Atlantic-operated long-haul service. It is a long-standing relationship and it is a very effective one. We are very proud to serve the Irish market in that way.

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