Air Canada and Aer Lingus Sign Interline Agreement

Agreement marks first step to code sharing, year-round service to Ireland

MONTREAL, Sept. 21, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada and Aer Lingus today announced they have signed an interline agreement to make flying between Canada and Ireland more convenient. The agreement is effective immediately and is a preliminary step toward a full code sharing relationship expected to be finalized next year between the Canadian and Irish flag carriers.

"Air Canada is pleased to interline with Aer Lingus as it will complement our Toronto-Dublin seasonal service to make it easy to fly year-round between Canada and Ireland via convenient connections through London Heathrow Airport, Air Canada's largest international station. We intend to follow through with other measures to enhance the experience for customers traveling between Canada and Ireland, including a full code share relationship with Aer Lingus beginning next year, the planned relocation of both carriers to Terminal 2 at Heathrow to facilitate connections and following that the introduction of year-round flights between Canada and Ireland," said Marcel Forget, Vice President Network Planning at Air Canada.

"We are delighted to announce this new partnership. We look forward to working closely with Air Canada to provide our customers with seamless travel options between Ireland and Canada," said Stephen Kavanagh, Chief Commercial Officer at Aer Lingus.

As a result of the agreement, customers flying Air Canada and Aer Lingus are now able to enjoy the additional flexibility and ease offered by the availability of a single electronic ticket. The agreement enables customers to use both carriers' check-in kiosks and to through-check their baggage to final destination.  Currently, Air Canada flies Toronto-Dublin non-stop daily during the summer, from June until October 13, and customers can connect through London-Heathrow, where Air Canada operates from eight Canadian gateways into Heathrow, with 12 daily flights in summer and nine in winter. Aer Lingus operates a total of 23 flights daily from London Heathrow to Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Shannon.

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 175 destinations on five continents.  Canada's flag carrier is the 15th largest commercial airline in the world and in 2011 served more than 33 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 59 Canadian cities, 56 destinations in the United States and 63 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America.  Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,356 destinations in 193 countries. In 2012, Air Canada was ranked Best International Airline in North America in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers conducted by independent research firm Skytrax.

About Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus is the national airline of Ireland founded in 1936 whose primary mission is to connect Ireland with the world by offering the best product with award winning customer service at low fares. Aer Lingus, with its fleet of 56 aircraft operates from central airport locations in the UK, Europe and North America serving in excess of 11 million passengers annually while providing seamless global connectivity with its partner airlines.

SOURCE: AIR CANADA

Air Canada:  
Isabelle Arthur (Montréal) 514 422-5788
Peter Fitzpatrick (Toronto) 416 263-5576
Angela Mah (Vancouver) 604 270-5741

Internet:    aircanada.com

Aer Lingus: 
Declan Kearney
[phone]
[phone]