Tore Jenssen, the CE of Norwegian Air International which has launched a raft of low-fares transatlantic flights from Ireland — including Cork Airport’s first scheduled direct service to the US — has given a “personal guarantee” that they are “here to stay”. Jenssen was speaking Saturday at the take-off of NAI’s inaugural flight from Cork to TF Green in Providence, 90-minutes south of Boston. “We have been waiting more than 3 years for this,” Jenssen said. NAI will operate the Cork-Providence service 3 times a week, year round. Also Saturday, it launched a daily service from Dublin to Stewart International in New York state. Jenssen said they have already sold 150,000 tickets on the flights out of Ireland. After an aircraft delivery delay, NAI has been forced to use Boeing 737-800s on the new routes. <br/>
unaligned
A major row has broken out between Aer Lingus and the DAA over what the airline's COO described as "unacceptable infrastructural deficits" at Dublin Airport. In a stinging memo, Mike Rutter attacked the DAA over alleged lack of investment after baggage belt failures cost the airline hundreds of thousands of euro last week. Rutter said the airline has serious concerns over DAA's failure to invest in key infrastructure such as taxiways, contact stands and baggage belts at the airport. Monday and Tuesday of last week Aer Lingus "experienced major operational disruption as the baggage belts failed in our T2 baggage hall", said Rutter. "This occurred due to the DAA's uploading of new software to the airport IT infrastructure, which rendered the baggage belts inoperable." <br/>
The first signs of a new approach to turn around the beleaguered airline under tourism minister Konrad Mizzi appear to be a plan to hive off Air Malta’s landing rights into a new company. Landing rights in airports that are already at over-capacity, such as London Heathrow, are crucial gains for airlines seeking slots for profitable routes. “We’re not yet at the stage where we are seeking a strategic partner,” said a govt source. “The plan is to get the company on its feet instead of just selling off a minority stake,” the source said, highlighting a difference in strategy between that employed by Mizzi’s predecessor, Edward Zammit Lewis. Air Malta’s take-off and landing slots at Heathrow come with price-tags as high as E70m for a pair. <br/>