The other dossier on Dempsey’s desk

A quick review of where things stand on Aer Lingus and its services to Heathrow.  First, yet more evidence that Belfast is not the golden goose that EI seemed to think it was heading towards.  Easyjet is beginning European services out of Aldergrove almost immediately, including one to Barcelona that will compete head-to-head with Aer Lingus.   Meanwhile Ryanair has its services to Britain out of Belfast City up and running, including one to Stansted.    In addition, it’s Heathrow slot marketing season, with 4 slots up for grabs (as Squid previously noted).  Note that the prospective buyers of these slots are all planning to use them for long-haul services.  In fact Delta Airlines new flights from Heathrow will use Air France slots that were previously LHR-CDG — a route that has little promise with Eurotunnel established.  Aer Lingus management say that they have to act in the best commercial interests of the airline.   Is Cork-Heathrow the best use of a slot with lucrative long-haul business-intensive routes starved of capacity?