Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications

Proposed Sale of Aer Lingus: (Resumed) Aer Lingus and Stobart Air

5:00 pm

Mr. Stephen Kavanagh:

The growth will flow to all elements of the Aer Lingus network. In simple terms, if I can use the Shannon-Heathrow example, simply having British Airways selling Shannon as the destination in the London market is a positive for the sustainability of the Shannon-Heathrow route. If British Airways is supplemented by the ability of all Oneworld members to sell seats on behalf of Aer Lingus between London and Shannon, there are no circumstances, from our analysis, on the basis of having more potential customers in a more cost-effective manner, under which the viability of the network is in any way compromised or less benefited than in the IAG proposal. That is across the network. It is about having an ability to reach more potential customers more cost-effectively. Those benefits will flow across existing routes, as well as creating the opportunity for accelerated growth.