Published Thursday, 19 July 2012
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The airline's new winter schedule for 2012 will see two key routes in and out of London Heathrow and London Gatwick targeting business and leisure customers.
There will be three flights daily to each airport in each direction.
When the move from Belfast International takes place, the George Best City Airport will provide the only Northern Ireland link to Heathrow with ten flights per day.
From March next year, the airline will also fly to Malaga and Faro.
"Northern Ireland's vital London connections are secure with Aer Lingus," said Christoph Mueller, the airline's chief executive, who announced the decision to move airports.
"This is a commercial decision delivering value for our customers and the company. George Best Belfast City Airport delivers a compelling location and a strong history of business flying.
"We believe the move will appeal to the 600,000 plus passengers annually who fly with us and especially the business traveller who now has a choice of two London airports with Aer Lingus."
"Indeed business travellers based in the Belfast City Centre will now be able to substantially reduce transit times from office to aircraft. We believe our dual offer of Heathrow and Gatwick supports the local marketplace during these challenging economic times."
Mr Mueller said the 100 jobs created in the £100 million investment made by Aer Lingus in Northern Ireland five years ago remained secure.
"We remain committed to the Northern Ireland marketplace," he said. "Jobs are secured in this move and indeed our plans for new routes in the future, may see employment and investment increase.
Aer Lingus expects transfer traffic with these airlines to grow through both Heathrow and Gatwick.
"We offer a seamless service, including baggage transfer with interline partners to many parts of the world in addition of course to the direct trans Atlantic routes we offer from Dublin Airport, 90 minutes down the road," said Mr Mueller.
"We are very excited by the potential of this move to city airport, which will allow us to grow our offering in Northern Ireland over the coming years."
Brian Ambrose, Chief Executive of George Best Belfast City Airport welcomed the airline saying he hoped to create a "growing route network" with Aer Lingus.
"Considerable private investment focused on improving the facilities and passenger experience at the airport is paying considerable dividends for Belfast City," he said.
But easyJet UK director Paul Simmons described the move as "desperate".
"In the last 18 months we have seen both Ryanair and bmibaby exit the Belfast aviation market via Belfast City airport.
"The Aer Lingus move to Belfast City looks like a last desperate throw of the dice, compared to the fanfare that marked their original entry into Northern Ireland five years ago," he said.
Aer Lingus will commence flying from George Best Belfast City Airport on Sunday 28 October.
The airline has said customers with existing bookings from Belfast International Airport to London Heathrow for dates after the 28 October will be contacted in the coming days.