Despite expectations that Aer Lingus would rejoin the Oneworld global airline alliance by 2018, CEO Stephen Kavanagh has announced that the carrier currently has no plans to do so.
According to The Irish Independent, Willie Walsh, chief executive of the company that owns Aer Lingus, International Airlines Group (IAG), has previously stated that Aer Lingus is likely to rejoin Oneworld next year.
However, at the European Aviation Conference in Dublin City University yesterday (Tuesday November 14), Kavanagh asserted, "We have no plans to join Oneworld. We still have to do the business case for joining OneWorld."
The Aer Lingus CEO added, "We believe… that we can bring more choice to the market place and grow in connected businesses without compromising any of our existing businesses or the consumer. We're about building cost efficiency and capacity."
