New Route Frenzy!

FlyBe At Norwich:

Europe’s third largest low cost airline makes East Anglia a major base
30th November 2004
Flybe., Europe’s third largest low-cost airline, is set to announce its intention to become the first major low-cost airline to make Norwich International Airport a base for its operations. Flybe. will initially put 200,000 seats on the market in Norwich, as it launches a raft of new routes in summer 2005, emphasising its commitment to offering cheap fares to regional airports in the heart of key business and leisure destinations.

Flybe. will begin by offering new daily services from Norwich to Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Jersey. Prices to Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow will start from £25, with fares to Jersey will starting from £39.

The new services will travel daily to Belfast and Edinburgh from 27 March 2005 and daily to Glasgow from 16th June 2005. Services to Jersey will start from 7th May 2005. Tickets for all the new routes are on sale today at http://www.flybe.com.

The move follows flybe.’s recent half year results announcement of a record £14 million profit, in addition to a 24% overall growth in passenger traffic and a 34% overall increase in passenger revenue.

The launch of the new routes out of Norwich are part of flybe.’s extensive summer schedule for 2005, which forms part of the airline’s overall strategy of continued investment and expansion of both its domestic and international route network.

Mike Rutter, Sales and Marketing Director, flybe., commented: ‘We have big plans in East Anglia and are delighted to be the first major low cost carrier to operate routes from Norwich International Airport. Whilst many of our competitors are route cutting and retrenching back to London, flybe. is expanding in the regions and is committed to bringing flights to your door.

“Opening up a genuine low cost flying option for the region can only have a positive impact on the people who live and work here. With Norwich now fully integrated into flybe.’s European network, we’re going to be looking at adding more routes and more capacity over time.”

“East Anglia has a successful and exciting economy which will benefit greatly from the increased business, inward investment and tourism traffic that will be delivered by these new routes. Flybe. is proud to link its route network to such a vibrant area.”

Richard Jenner, Managing Director of Norwich International Airport said: “This is a fantastic social and economic boost for the region and is a crucial stepping stone in further establishing Norwich as a major tourist destination in the UK. With flybe.’s invaluable support, NWI will be striving to continue to play a major part in attracting further investment into East Anglia as a whole.”

Caroline Williams, Chief Executive of the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce added: “Businesses in the region will be very excited by the introduction of these new routes. Many local businesses rely heavily on the services of Norwich International however the range of destinations has in the past been limited. The decision by flybe. to offer these new destinations from Norwich will open greater opportunities for our members resulting in increased economic benefits to the region.”

Clive Davies, Executive Director of Omniport, the company which acquired a majority share in Norwich International Airport in March this year said: “Flybe.’s announcement of new routes today underlines Omniport’s commitment to growing the range and frequency of destinations from Norwich International and providing the people of East Anglia with convenient and reasonably priced air services – a commitment Omniport made when it acquired the airport.”

Also apparantly. LPL to Exeter and Southampton on sale tomorrow.

Ryanair at Shannon:

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 low fares airline today (30th Nov 2004) unveiled Shannon Airport as its 12th major European Base. From May 3rd next Ryanair will allocate up to four Boeing 737-800 series aircraft to Shannon, and will operate a network of 14 low fare scheduled routes to the UK and Continental Europe. Ryanair has guaranteed to deliver 1.3 million passengers in the first year of this base, rising to 2 million passengers by year 5.

According to ACI figures, these 2m p.a. passengers will generate 2,000 new jobs in the Shannon region, with the first 200 of these being direct Ryanair employees (pilots, cabin crew, engineers etc) whose recruitment will begin immediately.

The routes announced by Ryanair from Shannon include 6 UK destinations as well as
8 European destinations, and all the new routes are launched at fares that are at least half the price of the high fares presently charged by Aer Lingus (or their equivalent) on European routes from Cork and Dublin. Shannon Airport will now become the low fares airport of Ireland.

SHANNON TO UK Lowest Fare SHANNON TO EUROPE Lowest Fare
Glasgow (PIK)* €10 Barcelona (GRO) €25
Liverpool* €15 Brussels (CRL)* €15
London Luton €10 Dusseldorf (NRN) €20
London Gatwick €10 Frankfurt (HHN)* €30
London Stansted* €10 Hamburg (LBC) €20
Nottingham (EMA) €15 Milan (BGY) €25
Paris (BVA)* €15
Stockholm (NYO) €30

*Existing Route

Announcing this $240m base in Shannon, Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, said:

“This base revolutionises the future growth of Shannon Airport. It would not have been possible without the vision and tenacity of the new Shannon Airport Authority led by Chairman, Mr Pat Shanahan. In less than two months since their appointment, the Board of Shannon has won this biggest ever single investment in Irish tourism, despite intense competition from seven other low cost European Airports. Had the contract not been signed last week, these aircraft would have gone instead to Italy to take up opportunities created by the collapse of Volare. Instead Ryanair will invest $240 million in Shannon in the next 12 months and we have guaranteed to deliver 2 million passengers p.a. within 5 years which is double Shannon’s existing traffic. This new traffic will lead to the creation of 2,000 new jobs here in the Shannon region.”

“Today’s announcement vindicates the policy of former Minister for Transport, Seamus Brennan, TD and the Government to break up the Aer Rianta monopoly and allow Cork and Shannon Airports the freedom to compete with Dublin. This new base will make Shannon Airport the low cost gateway to Ireland and promote tourism access to Ireland’s western seaboard for UK and European visitors. We will use Ryanair’s enormous presence in Continental Europe to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to the West of Ireland on a year round basis. We look forward to working closely with Tourism Ireland and the industry here in the Mid-West to ensure that these visitors keep coming again and again”.

“This new base means that passengers using Shannon Airport will now enjoy air fares that are at least half the price of Aer Lingus (and others) lowest air fares from Dublin and Cork to Europe. Dubliners will now be forced to drive to Shannon for low fare access to Europe which again shows the pressing need for Bertie Ahern’s Government make a decision on a competing second terminal at Dublin Airport. The new Board at Shannon Airport have shown that enormous tourism and job growth is possible if decisions are taken quickly. We call yet again on the Taoiseach to put the interests of Irish consumers and tourism first, and allow a competing second terminal to be built at Dublin Airport as a matter of utmost urgency”.

Ryanair Shannon Prices are half that of Aer Lingus
Shannon Route Ryanair Price Competitor Price Routes (Operator)
London STN €10 €32.44 SNN-LHR (ALingus)
London LTN €10 €32.44 SNN-LHR (ALingus)
London LGW €10 €32.44 SNN-LHR (ALingus)
Glasgow PIK €10 €19.66 DUB-GLA (ALingus)
Liverpool €15 €29.50 ORK-MAN (BMIbaby)
Nottingham €15 €29.00 ORK-EMA (ALingus)
Paris BVA €15 €44.95 ORK-CDG (ALingus)
Brussels CRL €15 €39.66 DUB-BRU (ALingus)
Dusseldorf €20 €43.66 DUB-DUS (ALingus)
Frankfurt €30 €64.33 DUB-FRA (ALingus)
Hamburg €20 €39.66 DUB-HAM (ALingus)
Barcelona €25 €54.95 DUB-BCN (ALingus)
Milan €25 €50.00 DUB-MIL (ALingus)
Stockholm €30 €766.00 DUB-STO (SAS)

Zoom from Cardiff:

Zoom Airlines today (Tuesday 30 November) announced details of low-cost scheduled flights direct from Cardiff to Canada.

The Cardiff service will start operating in May 2005 with flights to Toronto weekly on Mondays at prices starting from £89 one way including taxes.

Zoom will be the only airline offering flights to Canada from Cardiff International Airport in summer 2005 and the only low-cost transatlantic airline servicing Canada for the whole of Wales and the West of England.

Debbie Marshall, UK Director of Zoom Airlines, said: “I am delighted to be introducing flights from Cardiff to Toronto expanding our service for Summer 2005. Our prices are the lowest scheduled fares across the Atlantic offering high quality full service flights, which have proved to be extremely appealing to the travelling public.

“The availability of premium class is ideally suited for these longer flights. Premium seats can be booked for an additional £49 each way, offering additional legroom, superior in-flight meals and complimentary drinks for the duration of your flight.”

Almost 20 per cent of seats on Zoom’s Toronto flights in 2004 were booked by customers living within two hours drive of Cardiff. This convinced the company of the need for a direct scheduled service.

Jon Horne, Managing Director of Cardiff International Airport, said: “This is great news, there is a huge demand for transatlantic flights and Cardiff International Airport is expanding the number of services available to people in Wales and the West of England. Zoom Airlines has now made it easier for people wanting to travel on business, on holiday or to visit friends and relatives in Canada, even for a short trip.”

Zoom will now operate scheduled flights from Gatwick, Glasgow, Manchester and Cardiff servicing eight Canadian cities including Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Halifax, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

Summer 2005 flights can now be booked at http://www.flyzoom.com or by calling 0870 240 0055

So many new routes and bases been announced at the moment! Great news for all airports involved.