Aer Lingus and United Airlines in Transatlantic Partnership

Aer Lingus and United Airlines have expanded their relationship on select long haul services between Europe and North America.

The airlines will launch services between Washington Dulles and Madrid, which will be available for sale from April 2009, and will commence daily operations from March 2010. It is anticipated that additional routes may be made available for sale during 2010 to commence operation in Summer 2011.

It is intended that both carriers will equally share the commercial and operating benefits and risk, with Aer Lingus managing the operational aspects of the new partnership services and United Airlines taking responsibility for managing revenue generation. The partnership route structure will be operated and sold under both Aer Lingus and United Airlines codes and will leverage both parties’ network capabilities.

Aer Lingus and United Airlines launched codeshare services between Ireland and the US in October 2008 which are proving to be successful based on initial traffic performance. The new partnership will build upon this relationship enabling the parties to take advantage of the new commercial opportunities made possible by the Open Skies Air Services Agreement between the European Union and the United States.

Speaking at the launch of the Partnership Aer Lingus’ Chief Executive Dermot Mannion said, “We are very excited by the potential of the Partnership and believe that the unique combination of two leading transatlantic airlines can drive significant value for the shareholders of both companies.”

Glenn Tilton, United Airlines’ Chairman, President and CEO added, “Our expanded agreement takes advantage of new opportunities under the US-EU Open Skies Agreement, benefiting our customers with additional competition and capacity in these markets. This partnership provides for a deeper commercial relationship with Aer Lingus, and capitalizes on the unique strengths of both our companies.”

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