Aer Lingus to use USCBP at Shannon from May 2010
In a much welcomed move, Aer Lingus announced today that it had applied to the US Port Director at Shannon Airport for approval to start using full US Customs and Border Protection clearance at the airport. The service will be used on the airline's Shannon to New York service once approval is given in early May 2010. The carrier says that this will mark the initial trial phase prior to the service being extended to other US routes.
Aer Lingus had come in for criticism in the Shannon / mid west region for failing to avail of CBP clearance when it was introduced last year. In its defence, Aer Lingus said at the time that it could not avail of the service for operational reasons. The airline pools ground services at JFK by using adjacent gates however this requires all aircraft to be either cleared or uncleared by CBP as cleared aircraft use a different gate area at the airport. Whilst CBP clearance was available in Shannon from last autumn it won't be available in Dublin until next winter.
Yesterday Aer Lingus announced that it was to re-introduce fuel surcharges on long haul flights but not on short haul flights. The move drew a predictable response from Ryanair which has developed another slogan as a result - "Ryanair, the only airline to guarantee no fuel surcharges, not today, not tomorrow, not ever."