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High times ahead for short flights
April 2007
Joseph Baron, International Trade Today
Despite all the negative publicity (arguably unwarranted) regarding carbon footprints and air miles, low-cost airlines are still expanding at a frenetic pace and it is not easy keeping up with the latest routes and destinations. So ITT has gathered together some of the most significant recent and up-coming new short-haul routes that you may have missed.
Jet2 is this year fast expanding its Manchester airport routes over the coming months. New services to Milan Bergamo and Geneva were introduced in January, and last month saw the launch of flights to Paris CDG, Barcelona, and Berlin. This also sees new links to Toulouse, and, next month, a four-times-a-week service to Venice.
The UK’s most punctual airline, Bmi, is starting services from Leeds Bradford airport to Lille in northern France from this month – the first ever UK flight to what is already a popular Eurostar destination. Last month, Bmi also launched direct Leeds Bradford-Copenhagen flights.
THE CHANNEL ISLANDS
Flights between Jersey and Heathrow are to restart after a six-year gap. Bmi launched a twice-daily service last month, with timings said to be ideal for business day trips.
‘This is fantastic news,’ said Philip Ozouf of Jersey’s economic development department. ‘The Heathrow route strengthens our link with the rest of the world, making the island much more accessible to international travellers and business people.’ Flights depart Heathrow 0710 and 1840, returning from Jersey 0840 and 2035 (return fares from £68).
SCOTLAND
The acquisition of four Brazilian-made Embraer commuter jets is allowing Bmi to launch new services from Aberdeen to Norwegian ship-building city Kristiansand, and from Edinburgh to Zurich – the latter being Scotland’s first link (launched last month) to the Swiss banking centre.
A new route to Dortmund, Westphalia’s so-called ‘green metropolis’, begins late next month from Edinburgh airport with easyJet. It comes about as a result of backing from the Scottish Executive, which has funds to support new direct air links that will bring economic benefits. Dortmund is the third German/Scottish link that easyJet has launched within 12 months, Berlin (from Glasgow) and Munich (from Edinburgh, beginning early April) being the other two.
Scottish travellers also have extended links to the Spanish mainland with the introduction of a new daily flight from Edinburgh to Madrid.
Scandinavia’s first low-cost airline, Sterling Airways, is offering flights from Edinburgh to Copenhagen from 15 May until 7 September. Sterling currently connects London Gatwick with Aalborg, Billund, Copenhagen, and Stockholm Arlanda.
EAST MIDLANDS
Ryanair has introduced 10 new routes from East Midlands Airport to Sardinia, Bratislava, Granada, Inverness, Knock (west Ireland), Krakow, Milan and Pisa, Santiago and Valencia. It is now the largest airline operating at the airport, with almost 25 per cent of total traffic. New routes to Rimini and Bergerac are expected shortly.
WEST MIDLANDS
A new route from Birmingham International to Jersey has been announced by Bmibaby, with flights taking place four times a week and fares starting at £24 one way, including taxes. Bmibaby is also increasing its frequency of flights to Glasgow and Edinburgh.
WEST AND SOUTH WEST
Milan is easyJet’s latest addition to its growing number of services from Bristol Airport. Bristol International’s aviation development director, Tony Hallwood, was delighted with the news. ‘In addition to being one of the world’s key financial and commercial centres, the city is a popular and convenient gateway for those wishing to travel to the Italian lakes area.' The new daily route begins 23 April.
Thomsonfly has become the first airline to offer low-fare flights between Cardiff and Barcelona, with a new service beginning in May. Four flights a week will be operated to the northern coast city, with prices starting at £22.99 one way. Thomsonfly is the largest airline at Cardiff Airport. ‘This is the first time a major new international route has been launched from the airport with the support of the Welsh Assembly,’ said Thomsonfly commercial director Guy Stephenson.
Cardiff is to get a new route to Murcia (Spain), as well as more flights to Faro, Jersey and Majorca, – all with Bmibaby. Also, the airline’s current morning service to Belfast International has been re-timed to 7am to make it more suitable for the business traveller.
Thomsonfly is to introduce a new route to Valencia, from Bournemouth Airport, where it has been operating for the last two years.
LONDON AIRPORTS
The largest low cost airline in central and eastern Europe, the Hungarian company Wizz Air, has announced it is to expand its operations from Katowice International Airport with – amongst others – a new daily service to London Stansted beginning at the end of May.
Earlier in the year Wizz announced new services to Katowice from Birmingham and Bournemouth, starting this summer. Flights from London Luton to Bucharest Baneasa Airport were introduced recently, as well as additional flights on the Poznan-London route.
NEWS ROUND-UP
Bmibaby is targeting business travellers with the ‘only choose what you need’ concept that will ‘transform the way people in the Midlands choose to travel on business’.
Passengers will be able to choose from a range of services for each trip, as well as being able to join the Diamond Club airline reward scheme, a member of the Star Alliance network.
Services include:
- flexible flights for an additional fee of £35, whereby travellers can choose to catch earlier/later return flights, provided there is availability
- online check in at no extra cost.
- access to executive lounges in the UK and Europe, for £15 per visit
- seat reservation at time of booking, for £3.50
- no cabin baggage weight restriction provided it can be lifted unaided into overhead lockers.
Bmibaby has made a significant impact on the airline industry in Birmingham and we welcome this new business package that will offer savings to business travellers,’ said a spokesman.
An agreement with British Airways means that Flybe is to acquire the former’s regional airline business, BA Connect, turning Flybe into Europe’s largest regional airline, with 159 routes, 10m passengers, and £600m worth of revenue.
Not content with using the UK as the base for their international flights, many low-cost airlines are setting up on continental Europe, too, for intra-mainland services.
easyJet has announced its first foray into Belgium, with the launch of a daily service between Geneva and Brussels (to become twice daily from September). This brings the number of countries served by the airline to 20. New routes starting this year from Madrid include Palma, Toulouse, Rome, Casablanca, Marrakech and Lyon.
Two months ago Ryanair announced Düsseldorf Weeze would be its 19th European base, with connections including London, Glasgow, Venice, Rome, Shannon and Stockholm. The airline has also said it will be launching 22 new European destinations from Dublin during the course of 2007, including Bydgoszcz and Gdansk in Poland.
FAST FOOTNOTE
Between July and September, Eurostar operates a weekly, Saturday high-speed train from London to Avignon, and now budget airline Flybe has decided to turn up the competitive heat. Last year, Flybe started flying from Southampton to Avignon; this year it is continuing this service (four times a week) and adding another flight (three times a week) from Exeter Airport.
