Direct Dublin flights to US west coast a very tough sell

ONE MORE THING:WITH AER Lingus having decided, in its own unique way, that it won't be relaunching a route from Dublin to the west coast of the United States next year, business leaders in Silicon Valley are preparing to turn their focus to alternative carriers.

John Hartnett, founder and president of the US-based Irish Technology Leadership Group, was “hugely disappointed” by Aer Lingus’s decision, and now intends to lobby United Continental hard about the route.

The newly merged US airline – now ranked as the world’s biggest carrier – currently operates year-round services from Dublin and Shannon to Continental’s hub in Newark, where a lot of Irish passengers then connect to flights to the west coast.

Hartnett said his group has already “reached out” to United Continental, but now intends to step up its lobbying effort.

“We probably now need to be more aggressive,” he told me.

“We need to concentrate our efforts on United Continental.”

When I contacted the US airline this week, it was coy about the possibility of starting up such a route.

When asked whether it could be viable for the airline, it said: “We do not have specific figures on the potential for this type of operation. Operating a west coast route poses particular challenges for any carrier.

“It requires more resources including fuel and is dependent on there being the right market size locally in order to make it viable.

“At United, we are in the business of being competitive and working to ensure that routes we serve are viable.”

So, it sounds as if Hartnett and his 60-odd co-signatories to a letter sent to Taoiseach Enda Kenny in May lobbying for the launch of a west coast air service will need to muster all their powers of persuasion if they are to land United Continental as a carrier.