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06/08/2009
Aer Lingus Win NI Civil Service Contract
The Irish airline, Aer Lingus has clinched a government contract worth an estimated £500,000 per year to fly civil servants between Belfast and London.
Over the next two years the airline will be the sole carrier for the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) between the two capital cities. The deal comes after recent criticism surrounding the total amount of money spent by the NICS on travel.
According to the Department of Finance Personnel over a nine month period civil servants took over 2,584 bmi flights from George Best Belfast City airport to Heathrow.
The bill came to £514,503, with the average price per seat costing £199.
Although it is the long standing policy for staff to take the most economical method of travel available, less than a tenth of civil servants who travelled to London over the nine month period chose to take the cheaper route via Belfast International airport.
Aer Lingus, who opened their UK hub at Aldergrove's International Airport 18 months ago, are now considering adding a fourth daily flight to Heathrow.
Meanwhile, Aer lingus could spend around €375m (£319m) less than expected over the next three years after it announced plans to reduce its fleet and delay plans to upgrade older planes.
The loss-making will be able to delay spending between €100m and €125m each of the next three years after it postponed delivery of three Airbus 330s until the second half of 2013 and the delivery of six A350s until at least 2015.
The move will reduce the airline's long-haul fleet to eight from nine by the end of the year and comes weeks after the airline said the number of passengers crossing the Atlantic in May fell 21% to
(GK/BMcc)
Over the next two years the airline will be the sole carrier for the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) between the two capital cities. The deal comes after recent criticism surrounding the total amount of money spent by the NICS on travel.
According to the Department of Finance Personnel over a nine month period civil servants took over 2,584 bmi flights from George Best Belfast City airport to Heathrow.
The bill came to £514,503, with the average price per seat costing £199.
Although it is the long standing policy for staff to take the most economical method of travel available, less than a tenth of civil servants who travelled to London over the nine month period chose to take the cheaper route via Belfast International airport.
Aer Lingus, who opened their UK hub at Aldergrove's International Airport 18 months ago, are now considering adding a fourth daily flight to Heathrow.
Meanwhile, Aer lingus could spend around €375m (£319m) less than expected over the next three years after it announced plans to reduce its fleet and delay plans to upgrade older planes.
The loss-making will be able to delay spending between €100m and €125m each of the next three years after it postponed delivery of three Airbus 330s until the second half of 2013 and the delivery of six A350s until at least 2015.
The move will reduce the airline's long-haul fleet to eight from nine by the end of the year and comes weeks after the airline said the number of passengers crossing the Atlantic in May fell 21% to
(GK/BMcc)
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11 June 2009
Reward Strategy For Senior Civil Servants To Be Reviewed
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Reward Strategy For Senior Civil Servants To Be Reviewed
Nigel Dodds, Northern Ireland's Finance Minister, is to develop an independent commission to review pays and bonuses for senior civil servants in Northern Ireland. The initiative follows an evaluation of the reward strategy for senior civil servants in the rest of the United Kingdom Last year bonuses for senior civil servants totalled £1.2 million.
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A cloudy day with a little light rain or drizzle at times, but some spells of drier weather too. The north coast may become somewhat brighter later this afternoon. Maximum temperature 11 °C.Tonight:Cloudy and patchy light rain will slowly clear away this evening. Then the rest of the night will be dry with broken cloud. Westerly winds freshening in the early hours. Minimum temperature 6 °C.
