EasyJet looks set to try a return to Ireland, with the UK low fares airline, reportedly, having secured take-off and landing slots at Dublin Airport for next winter.
While the carrier does have a strong presence in Belfast, this move would see it go head-to-head with chief rival Ryanair in the Republic since the early 2000s, when it operated short-lived services out of Shannon, Knock and Cork.
US aviation trade publication, AirwaysMag.com, has reported EasyJet has – via its Austria-based EasyJet Europe subsidiary – secured 88 take-off and landing slots at Dublin Airport between October this year and the end of next March.
EasyJet has not said anything about potential routes. The new slots are available as a result of development work at Dublin Airport, and it remains to be seen whether or not EasyJet will actually end up using them.
Indeed, one industry source suggested it remains too early to call on any real move into Ireland by EasyJet as the practice of applying for airport slots by airlines who end up not flying from them is quite common.
While the move opens up the mouth-watering potential for a massive price war, at Dublin, between EasyJet and Ryanair; the common thinking is that EasyJet will have to base a large fleet in the capital if it has any chance of even coming close to denting Ryanair’s dominance in Dublin in the traditional low fares market.
The Daa declined to comment and never does comment on potential commercial discussions with airlines at either of its airports.
