Durham Tees Valley Airport link to Dublin restored
DURHAM Tees Valley Airport is to have its Dublin route reinstated as part of a new deal between Irish carriers Aer Lingus and Aer Arann.
Under a franchise arrangement announced to the Irish Stock Exchange this morning, the carriers will operate six round trips a week from Tees Valley - plugging the gap left by the departure of Ryanair’s Dublin service, which was axed in March.
At its height, the budget airline carried 60,000 passengers a year and was a major generator of footfall for DTVA, which has seen customer numbers crash to 300,000.
The new franchise services will be branded as Aer Lingus Regional and will be operated using Aer Arann ATR 72-500 aircraft and crew.
In total the deal covers 12 routes from Dublin and Cork, which will be sold and distributed through www.aerlingus.com.
Aer Arann will assume full operational and commercial responsibility for the services and Aer Lingus will receive a franchise fee in return for the use of its better known branding.
The new agreement will significantly increases Aer Lingus’ presence in the Ireland-UK market and was “good news for stakeholders”, said chief executive Christoph Mueller.
The arrival of a well-known carrier to DTVA will also boost confidence in the airport’s ability to generate new traffic.
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