EUjet, the Shannon-based scheduled airline, has announced that it will not be proceeding with its intended service on the Shannon Dublin route.

The decision to introduce the route had been taken on the understanding that Aer Lingus did not plan to continue operating its service on the route.

Yesterday EUjet said that it understood this was not in fact the case.

It apologised to people who had pre-booked on the intended route.

The chief executive of EUjet, Mr PJ McGoldrick, said the company remained committed to Shannon.

"We are on schedule to launch routes from Shannon to Faro, Malaga, Murcia and Geneva. Our pre-bookings are strong and ahead of target."

He said that the company would now bring forward a plan to operate a service to Kent International and would continue to look for additional opportunities out of Shannon.

The service to Kent is due to begin on September 24th.

The company said passenger numbers on its Dublin-Kent route, launched earlier this month, were on target.

Established in May 2003, EUjet says it now has more than 200 employees.