AER LINGUS has announced fares to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam which it claims are the lowest since 1977. Return fires of £99 are for sale from today until February 21st for travel on direct services from Ireland between March 30th and October 25th. The main restriction is a minimum stay away of two nights or one Saturday night.
A spokesman for Aer Lingus yesterday said the initiative was not a pre emptive strike against Ryanair, which has called for far cheaper fares on routes between Ireland and Continental Europe.
Ryaaair has claimed it can operate profitably a return fare of £80 between Dublin and some continental cities, although this would require either lower charges from Aer Rianta at Dublin or access to Baldonnel as a commercial airport.
Aer Lingus fares to other European destinations such as Jersey, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Zurich have been reduced to £129 return. Aer Lingus claims the reductions represent savings on present fares from 29 per cent to 40 per cent.