What better time to kick-off British Airways’ new alliance with Aer Lingus than on St Patrick’s Day.

Code-sharing between the two airlines, including British Airways subsidiary CityFlyer Express, opens for sale at midnight on St Patrick’s Day (Friday, March 17), ahead of the “Flying Shamrock’s” entry into the oneworld alliance this summer. The new arrangements will make it easier and even more rewarding for passengers travelling to and from Ireland to access British Airways’ worldwide network.

To set the ball rolling, the British Airways team behind the partnership were taken by their counterparts from across the Irish Sea to The Craic - as the Stoop Rugby Ground, just south of Heathrow, is called now that First Division side London Irish, who play there, are sponsored by Aer Lingus in one of the sport’s biggest deals in the UK.

Code-sharing between Aer Lingus and British Airways and its subsidiary CityFlyer Express is a central part of a co-operative agreement between the two carriers signed in November. It also includes access to airport lounges of both carriers for business class passengers flying on any of the code-share services, smoother passengers transferring between the two airlines and links between their frequent flyer schemes, so that members of either British Airways’ Executive Club and Aer Lingus’ Travel Award Bonus (TAB) can earn and redeem rewards right across each other’s networks.

From the start of the summer season, on March 26, 2000, the BA flight prefix will be added to Aer Lingus flights between Dublin and Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle, and between Cork and Birmingham. The EI code will be added to CityFlyer Express’ services between Gatwick and Dublin, and British Airways mainline flights between Heathrow and Berlin, Bologna, Copenhagen, Munich, Nice, Venice and Vienna, and, subject to Government approval, Budapest and Prague.

David Noyes, British Airways’ Director of Alliances, said: “British Airways is very pleased to be building on our long-standing and successful relationship with Aer Lingus to the benefit of our customers and both companies. Our two airlines have a great deal in common with strategies built on providing quality services.”

Larry Stanley, Aer Lingus’ Group Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to form a new partnership with British Airways. Our respective companies have built quality brands based on strong customer values. We look forward to working with British Airways and to building jointly on those values to provide better services for all our customers.”

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