United Airlines is to hire 200 staff for a new telephone reservations centre in Dublin, the company said yesterday. The move represents another coup for IDA Ireland, which has targeted the call-centre business for over three years.

United, now the world's largest airline with 2,200 flights a day, said that after a lengthy analysis, it came to the conclusion that Dublin represented "a highly cost-effective solution to our reservations needs across Europe".

It will begin operations in December and promised to employ more than 200 people by the year 2000.

The development means that United's reservations desks in Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London and Zurich will be consolidated in Ireland.

A spokesman for the company said that all of the 170 workers currently staffing these operations would be offered new jobs within the company or the possibility to relocate to Dublin.

A spokesman for IDA Ireland said that while he was "delighted" that United Airlines had announced its decision, the agency could not yet discuss the move as all of the paperwork had not been completed.

United said it made sense to consolidate its reservations offices, making use of the "sophisticated new technology and the combination of low costs and language skills which the new centre in Ireland can deliver for us.

New systems, economies of scale and longer opening hours would ensure a better level of service to the travel trade and to customers, the airline added.

Already, a succession of top-notch multinational firms have established their call centre operations in Ireland. These include one of United's main rivals, American Airlines, as well as Hertz, ITT Sheraton, United Parcel Service and IBM.

"This was a particularly difficult business decision for us to take in view of the impact it will have on United's dedicated reservations workforce in Europe.

"We will work hard to ensure the best possible outcome for the greatest number of employees," said the company's vice president, Mr Graham Atkinson.

"Where relocation is not possible, and no new position is available, we will ensure that appropriate compensation packages are available for employees who decide to leave the company," he added.

In 1994, the staff of United Airlines bought the company, which was then in financial trouble. By the end of last year, however, the airline posted record results, with net profits for 1996 up 48 per cent at just over $1 billion (£660 million). Operating revenues for the year were $16.4 billion, up 9.5 per cent on the previous year.