ONE MORE THING:EXECUTIVES OF Houston-based Continental Airlines stopped off in Shannon and Dublin this week to unveil their new reclining bed for transatlantic business customers.
It won’t be available on the 757-200s that the airline flies into Ireland for another 12 months, by which time Continental will hope the economy has turned a corner and business traffic will have perked up.
Like all other airlines, Continental has struggled in these recessionary times, recording a net loss of $282 million (€208 million) in 2009. In spite of this, the airline has decided to add more capacity into Ireland.
From May to September, Continental will fly an extra four times a week from Shannon, where it already has a daily service.
Bob Schumacher, Continental’s senior director of sales and marketing for the UK and Ireland, told me that the airline is making a “good living” out of Shannon.
“We aren’t doing this because we’re nice people or to keep the flag flying for the west [of Ireland],” he said.
“We’re doing it because the demand is there.”
Continental carried more than 400,000 passengers in and out of Ireland in 2009. The breakdown was: Belfast – 98,000, of which 40,000 were Americans flying in; Dublin and Shannon – 305,000, of which 200,000 were Americans in-bound, 105,000 Irish flying out.
About half of those flying to Continental’s hub at Newark, New Jersey, head to New York, while the rest connect to other cities, notably Florida and Las Vegas.
Schumacher said that Continental’s services out of Ireland were profitable last year but not at the level of 2008, and revenues were down by more than 20 per cent.
While its load factor went from about 80 per cent in 2008 to the “upper mid-80s” last year, average fares declined.
“Yield was the challenge last year,” he admitted.
Schumacher also confirmed that Continental will use the new Terminal 2 at Dublin airport, which opens in November.
“Yes, we are looking to join that. We’re in the late stages of paperwork on it at the moment. Personally, I find Dublin airport a very user-friendly airport.”
