ROUTES EUROPE: Belfast International Retains Services of Continental Airlines

Posted 07/05/2011

US major Continental Airlines is to continue to operate its daily link between Belfast International and Newark Liberty International following its merger with United Airlines, safeguarding a connection that is estimated to be worth around £20 million to the local economy.  Like many routes from regional airports across the UK, it had come under threat from recent rises in Air Passenger Duty (APD), the Government’s taxation of air travellers, which many airlines and airports have argued is not in the best interests of the country’s economic development. 

Latest changes in the duty imposed in November last year has seen a massive additional cost added to every single ticket and had resulted in many passengers in Northern Ireland travelling down to Dublin in the Republic of Ireland where taxation has been reduced to low levels.  This had led Continental Airlines to reassess the route, but reports in the Irish press suggest that intense negotiations between the airline, Belfast International Airport, Stormont Executive ministers and the UK Treasury officials have safeguarded it, at least in the short-term. 

In an interview with The Belfast Telegraph, this week, the airport’s Business Development Director, Uel Hoey said: “The New York to Belfast service is an essential cornerstone of Northern Ireland’s current and future inward investment and tourism strategy not only because of the direct link to New York, but due to the extensive coverage available throughout North America via Continental’s Newark hub.”

Continental is expected to make another decision on the route later in the year and Uel Hoey said that although it continues to perform strongly in traffic terms – around 100,000 passengers use the service a year – the “unfair, onerous tax comparator” with Dublin “needs to be addressed”.

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