AER Lingus ended its daily Shannon to London Heathrow flights on Sunday, and began its controversial new service from Belfast International Airport to Heathrow the following day.Aer Lingus will now operate three flights a day from Belfast to Heathrow, and the airline has set a goal of transporting 500,000 passengers from Belfast to all of its new destinations from the city by the end of the year."I remain very confident. We have already received 100,000 bookings so far so we're well on target," said Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion.There was outrage last year when Aer Lingus announced the end of its service to Heathrow from Shannon. The service had been a mainstay at the airport for the past 50 years."We were let down by politicians here when their constituents needed them most. The way it was handled was a comedy of errors, with people only learning of what the latest scenario was from various leaks," said the general manager of Limerick's Clarion Hotel Sean Lally said. "It is a sad day but now we must draw a line under this and move on."Belfast is the first hub city outside the Republic of Ireland for Aer Lingus. The company has invested v150 million in the new base.Three A320 aircraft will be based at Belfast, flying to nine European destinations and supporting up to 100 direct jobs as well as around 500 indirect posts in the first year. In addition to Heathrow, passengers leaving from Belfast will be able to fly to Amsterdam, Barcelona and Geneva. In the spring, new destinations will include Budapest, Malaga, Rome, Faro and Nice. "We believe we have the right mix of routes and fares, all available at aerlingus.com, that will appeal to the Northern Ireland traveler and we look forward to welcoming them on board," said Mannion.