Aer Lingus has agreed to honour £4 (€5) flights to the US, in a reversal of its earlier decision not to honour transatlantic flights bought on its website for just £4.

Published: 21 Apr 2008

Aer Lingus has agreed to honour £4 (€5) flights to the US, in a reversal of its earlier decision not to honour transatlantic flights bought on its website for just £4.

Consumers had managed to purchase business-class flights to the US for just €5, but the airline later cancelled the bookings, claiming the price was a technical error.

An Aer Lingus spokeswoman apologised for the technical error.

"Following a full investigation of the booking error undertaken yesterday evening by the company, it appears that some customers may have genuinely believed that they were making a booking in economy class," she reportedly said. "It is regrettable that this technical error occurred and Aer Lingus recognises and accepts that customers were upset and inconvenienced."

The reported 90-minute glitch on the booking website was estimated to have cost the airline - part owned by the Irish government - about £790,000.

After meeting the National Consumer Agency (NCA) Aer Lingus shared that it will let the customers take the flights in economy class rather than business class. The NCA says those who are not happy with the offer can take legal action against the company.