Aer Lingus today was overwhelmingly voted Airline of the Year 2002. In addition, the airline was also voted Best Airline on London routes, Best Airline on other UK routes and Best Airline on Transatlantic routes 2002.

The awards were presented by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland`s Air Transport Users Council at a ceremony in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, attended by business leaders and guest of honour, Minister for Public Enterprise, Mary O`Rourke, TD.

Aer Lingus Chief Executive, Willie Walsh said “I welcome these awards as a vote of confidence from a very important customer sector, the business community. Everybody in Aer Lingus has shown great commitment in implementing the Survival Plan which has kept us in business after the terrible events of September 11th. Irish consumers have benefited from the steps we have taken :-

* Three million cheap seats in the Irish market in 2002.

* Simple, direct access through aerlingus.com which always has the cheapest Aer Lingus fares.

* Five new popular routes in the past five months - Malaga, Nice, Barcelona, Alicante and Faro.

We have made progress. We know there is much more to do. These awards will act as motivation for us to continue the change programme in Aer Lingus beyond survival.”

——-