Aer Lingus has announced a ten-year franchise agreement with Emerald Airlines to operate its regional flights after Stobart Air recently ceased their operations for the company. With the new deal, Emerald Airlines will operate Aer Lingus flights between Ireland and regional airports in the UK, Isle of Man and Jersey.
Earlier, Stobart’s revoke from operations left the local travellers hugely concerned about regional journeys in future. The operation will be functional from January 2023, the companies confirmed.
Stobart Air cancelled their franchise with Aer Lingus in June and Aer Lingus has been operating six of the 12 routes using its mainline ever since. Aer Lingus had responded they would be looking for new alliances to reintroduce regional flights soon.
“Aer Lingus’s strategic intent to develop Dublin Airport as a hub between Europe and the US, to deliver greater connectivity and aviation jobs, is significantly boosted by today’s announcement,” said Aer Lingus chief executive Lynne Embelton announcing the deal officially.
The Emerald Airlines are also hopeful about providing an optimized service with Aer Lingus. They also confirmed that, the company would be recruiting 400+ new staff members which would be a great relief for the pandemic hit industry and people. Emerald Airlines will add additional aircraft to the fleet as well.