Well this is interesting…Back in May 2016 this blog published a post on Aer Lingus rebranding their loyalty program to AerClub based on the Avios program currency. At the time we noted:
Last May when the IAG acquisition was announced, the press release stated that Aer Lingus would join oneworld and the North Atlantic Joint Business pact with AA, BA, Finnair, and Iberia. However, months later airline management noted that while they were still working towards the North Atlantic Joint Business pact and oneworld entry would be decided at a later date. It seems that the airline is again likely to join the alliance as per the CEO’s latest statement as reported by USA Today:
“There are some advantages to joining the big-boys’ club”. While Avios will be a competitive tool, “ultimately, we believe that will result in our joining again oneworld.”
USA Today once again has the scope, this time reporting that the airline has no plans to rejoin the alliance as it instead focuses on the transatlantic joint business pact with American, British Airways, Finnair, and Iberia.
“We have no plans to join oneworld. We still have to do the business case for joining oneworld,” Aer Lingus CEO Stephen Kavanagh said Tuesday at the European Aviation Conference in Dublin, according to the Irish Independent.
“Aer Lingus has been focused on joining the transatlantic joint business,” IAG said in a statement to Today in the Sky on Wednesday. “These processes take time and at this stage the airline hasn’t developed a detailed business case on oneworld given its priority for joint business entry.”
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
1 comment
Sounds like it certainly wants to join OneWorld, as it aims it’s business toward OneWorkd partners, but cannot meet OneWorld business model criteria until they secure Trans-Atlantic revenue streams through joint ventures. The TA routes are fairly saturated and Ireland itself doesn’t have the demand to fill the A330s on daily basis. They will need these partnerships to secure their financial well-being.