Aer Lingus says it is working on plans to fly short-haul routes for major European airlines keen to exit unprofitable services while retaining feeder traffic to their hubs.
Accords with Virgin Atlantic Airways and Nova Airlines AB of Sweden mark the beginning of the contract-flying strategy, with Aer Lingus pursuing outsourcing work with larger carriers, chief executive Christoph Mueller said.
Expanded US services using Boeing 757s are also under review. Demand for so-called wet-leasing, when both crews and jets are provided, should increase as companies including Air France- KLM Group, Deutsche Lufthansa and Alitalia seek to pare expenses while maintaining access to key markets, Mr Mueller said in an interview.
There may be 500 jets flying unprofitable European routes solely to help fill long-haul planes based at hubs such as London Heathrow and Amsterdam Schiphol, he said.
"This is one of the markets we want to focus on, whether under our own brand, a Virgin Atlantic-type of model or simply as a white-tail," Mr Mueller said, referring to the industry term for an unbranded aircraft.
The wet-lease model could best be developed at Heathrow, which lost a neutral feeder carrier with the takeover last year of BMI by British Airways, he added.
Aer Lingus could turn a profit by building up a sequence of operating slots at airports where most carriers might have only a few each day, improving aircraft utilization, Mr Mueller said.
At Heathrow, the 23 pairs of take-off and landing positions that Aer Lingus uses for its own flights mean it could make better use than other carriers of single slots that might become free, bundling them with the existing holdings.
Capacity restraints at Europe's busiest airport compel some carriers to have jets standing idle for three hours rather than the optimum 25 minutes, according to Mr Mueller.
While short-haul flights away from top hubs are dominated by Ryanair and its low-cost peers, no discount airlines fly to Heathrow. The purchase of BMI by BA parent IAG drove Aer Lingus's first foray into charter flying, when it was selected by Virgin Atlantic to operate four fully crewed Airbus SAS A320 single-aisle planes on domestic UK routes. The service, which replaced Virgin's code-sharing deal with BMI, provides Richard Branson's long-haul specialist with feeder traffic at Heathrow from Manchester and Scotland.
Aer Lingus will release an interim management statement for the three months to the endof March tomorrow.