ARE YOU GO; EUR5 tickets to US will be honoured AER LINGUS 1.

Byline: BY EOIN REYNOLDS

AER Lingus did a U-turn yesterday and promised to honour transatlantic flights it mistakenly sold for EUR5.

The airline has been hit with a barrage of criticism after trying to wriggle out of the contracts as the bargain businessclass tickets would normally cost about EUR2,000.

Under pressure from Transport Minister Noel Dempsey and the 300 ticket buyers who threatened to take it to court Aer Lingus yesterday offered a "compromise" of economy-class tickets for the same price.

But that decision was only taken after the airline told customers they should have known the fares were a mistake and furious passengers jammed the phone lines of RTE Radio 1's Liveline yesterday.

In a bid to stem the negative publicity Aer Lingus said sorry for the "technical error". A spokeswoman added: "Aer Lingus recognises and accepts customers were upset and inconvenienced. Aer Lingus apologises unreservedly."

The 90-minute glitch on the booking website was estimated to have cost the airline about EUR1million but the hit on its public image could cost it even more.

Consumer Association chairman Michael Kilcoyne described the debacle as a "pure disaster" for the public face of Aer Lingus and a victory for "people power".

He added: "They had no option whatsoever. A contract is a contract. It shows you the attitude of some of these sellers... they use any method they can to get away from honouring a contract with consumers."