AC, Aer Lingus take first step to codeshare

Irish eyes are definitely smiling today with the announcement that Air Canada and Aer Lingus have signed an interline agreement. The deal is effective immediately and is a preliminary step toward a full code sharing relationship that’s expected to be finalized next year between the Canadian and Irish flag carriers. Marcel Forget, vice-president network planning at Air Canada, said that the new deal “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.” Forget continued, “We intend to follow through with other measures to enhance the experience for customers travelling 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.” Stephen Kavanagh, chief commercial officer at Aer Lingus, said, “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.” 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.