Tre anni dopo l'uscita da oneWorld altro cambio di rotta...!
Aer Lingus looking to join an alliance
By Cathy Buyck | June 11, 2010
Aer Lingus, which left oneworld in 2007, wants to re-join an alliance and is considering all three global airline groupings.
EI has received "some very strong interest" from members of each of the three alliances, CEO Christoph Mueller told ATWOnline on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Berlin this week. An announcement, however, is not imminent, he said, adding that the process is still "in a very early stage."
He continued, "We're based on an island and need to offer our customers a global network; this is our raison d’etre. But we will not fly this ourselves. We will do this through an alliance." The carrier already generates "a good part of our revenue with codeshare agreements," he noted.
EI does not disclose how large this "good part" is, but Mueller conceded that each of the three alliances holds an equal share "almost to the penny" of the carrier's codesharing revenue. KLM is EI's main partner from SkyTeam, British Airways from oneworld and United Airlines from Star Alliance.
EI joined oneworld in June 2000, but under the helm of then-CEO Willie Walsh it exited in 2007 as part of its repositioning from a network carrier to an LCC. Now it is moving away from a purely LCC model to more of a hybrid carrier that places a higher emphasis on customer service.
ATWonline
Aer Lingus looking to join an alliance
By Cathy Buyck | June 11, 2010
Aer Lingus, which left oneworld in 2007, wants to re-join an alliance and is considering all three global airline groupings.
EI has received "some very strong interest" from members of each of the three alliances, CEO Christoph Mueller told ATWOnline on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Berlin this week. An announcement, however, is not imminent, he said, adding that the process is still "in a very early stage."
He continued, "We're based on an island and need to offer our customers a global network; this is our raison d’etre. But we will not fly this ourselves. We will do this through an alliance." The carrier already generates "a good part of our revenue with codeshare agreements," he noted.
EI does not disclose how large this "good part" is, but Mueller conceded that each of the three alliances holds an equal share "almost to the penny" of the carrier's codesharing revenue. KLM is EI's main partner from SkyTeam, British Airways from oneworld and United Airlines from Star Alliance.
EI joined oneworld in June 2000, but under the helm of then-CEO Willie Walsh it exited in 2007 as part of its repositioning from a network carrier to an LCC. Now it is moving away from a purely LCC model to more of a hybrid carrier that places a higher emphasis on customer service.
ATWonline
