Welcome to Belfast, you've 18 miles to go
But in all the furore over the decision to strip Shannon of its much-loved route, it seems noone has actually examined the benefit to the traveller north or south of the Border.
What many commentators have missed is the fact that Aer Lingus will not be operating its new route from Belfast at all, but from Belfast INTERNATIONAL airport.
And the ‘International’ is based at Aldergrove, 18 miles from Belfast city centre. As misnomer locations go, those who run Aldergrove were light years ahead of Ryanair, the ‘low cost’ airline which is so often derided for flying passengers to airports named after cities many miles from where their planes land. This is the crux of the issue.
Business people who travel regularly between Belfast and London Heathrow have just one choice these days and that is BMI. But at least they fly into Belfast City airport, a few minutes from the city centre. Granted, those behind the transport infrastructure of the north’s capital haven’t provided proper rail links into the city centre. It is, however, a short bus or taxi ride away.
If you have ever boarded the BMI red-eye flight at either Belfast City or London Heathrow before 7am on a weekday, you will witness the business demand for the route. Business Class seats often take up the first dozen rows, and more often up to 18. Later flights have a much more reduced demand for leather upholstered seats and ‘complimentary’ meals and on weekends there is no early morning service at all.
As airlines go, BMI offers a first class service. The departure lounges at Heathrow these days are superb, a far cry from the days when they were patrolled by armed airport police officers and sniffer dogs. What Aer Lingus plans to offer, however, cannot begin to compete with BMI as far as business travellers are concerned.
Anyone with the inclination should try to get from Belfast International (weekly parking now £48/€70 and rising fast) to Belfast city centre in rush hour. They can follow the not-so-helpful road signs which have been there for years directing traffic down an ‘A’ road known as the Seven Mile Straight. Five miles down the Seven Mile Straight, they will encounter some of the worst traffic jams known to man.
Those travellers who know how to get to the motorway can join an equally frustrating car park often known as the M2. Take in the scenery folks, you’ve got an hour to kill. And if you’re in a taxi, watch that meter burn.
My point is this – would you want to fly into any country and then spend an hour on the northern equivalent of the M50 during rush hour? The answer is surely ‘no’.
Sure, Aer Lingus’s decision to move north is good news for the north. It will open up all sorts of new routes to travellers not just in Northern Ireland but in Border counties where more and more holidaymakers are seeing the advantage of flying out of Aldergrove (sorry Belfast International) rather than Dublin).
Heathrow – the argument goes – is an international hub, and so Aer Lingus passengers can therefore use any new northern service for onward connections. But to where? Continental Airlines operate a direct flight to Newark from Belfast International. For the first time, business and leisure travellers can fly direct, at relatively low cost, to the US without having to incorporate a drive to Dublin or a secondary flight to London.
Easyjet also flies to Amsterdam and Paris, and soon Flybe will add six new destinations. When it comes to flight choices, northern travellers have never had it so good.
The Aer Lingus Heathrow route will undoubtedly benefit leisure travellers, but they already have Stansted and Gatwick choices with both Easyjet (Belfast International) and Flybe (Belfast City).
But faced with the choice of flying into Belfast City or Belfast International, business people and those in a hurry will surely opt for the former where BMI is king. The city of Belfast after all is still the commercial centre in the North. Business travellers also want to be able to land at a city airport, knowing they are just a few minutes away when they need to get that return flight home.
Those with unlimited travel budgets also have the choice of CityJet flights from Belfast City to London City, right in the heart of the financial district. Aer Lingus will need those business travellers to switch to make that route viable but I cannot see how they can do that.
These are the facts which campaigners hoping to save the Shannon-Heathrow route need to highlight. Northern travellers not only have choices, they have better alternatives. Aer Lingus must have done its market research. I just happen to believe it’s flawed. And a final warning to Aer Lingus.
There used to be two Heathrow operators out of Belfast. British Airways, however, stopped its six-flights-a-day service on October 27, 2001. It operated from Belfast International. BMI won that battle.
