Aer Lingus has been offered $11 million (€8.4 million) in incentives by Baltimore Washington International (BWI) airport to establish a direct route to Dublin if an open skies deal is agreed by the US and the EU. Ciarán Hancockreports.

It is understood, however, that the Irish airline could reject this offer and sign a deal with rival Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Both are roughly 25 miles from Washington DC's Capitol Hill.

Aer Lingus's decision to choose Dulles will surprise many analysts as its landing charges are higher than BWI and it is not believed to have offered a comparable package of incentives.

According to informed sources, BWI has offered to pay Aer Lingus $2 million in marketing and advertising supports over a two-year period.

In addition, BWI would waive $3 million in rental and landing charges. The airport has also offered Aer Lingus $6 million in revenues supports to be spread evenly over two years. BWI has projected that a direct route from Dublin would attract up to 100,000 passengers a year.

"The selection of a gateway is always a competitive situation but BWI will put forward its best efforts to attract Aer Lingus back to this airport," said James Walsh, BWI's deputy executive director.

BWI handles about 20 million passengers a year, with 50 per cent of this traffic generated by Southwest Airlines. The airport has struggled to attract international carriers in recent years although BA does operate flights to London Heathrow and services to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Iceland and Gambia are also available.

Aer Lingus said it would not announce any new routes to the US until an open skies deal had been agreed. A spokesman added that no final decision has been made in relation to a route to Washington.

It is understood, however, that the airline's senior executives are set to plump for Dulles, which is a key hub for United Airlines, a major US carrier that does not operate flights to Ireland.

Dulles, which carries 23 million passengers a year, is also used by Jet Blue, an American low-fares carrier that has agreed an alliance with Aer Lingus to allow the Irish airline's passengers connect into its network of domestic flights and services to Mexico and the Caribbean.

Aer Lingus dropped BWI from its schedule in late 2004 having operated a daily flight from Dublin that stopped over in Shannon. Under an open skies deal, the Shannon stopover would be phased out and Aer Lingus would be free to fly directly from Dublin to Washington DC.

Washington DC is one of three cities in the US that Aer Lingus wants to fly to if an open skies deal is agreed. San Francisco and Orlando are the others.

The airline has two new A330 aircraft coming on stream in May and June for long-haul services. These have already been assigned to existing US routes - New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago - and to Dubai.

Aer Lingus hopes to switch these to the new routes in September or October if EU transport ministers approve an open skies deal on March 22nd.