Since attending last year’s event in Chicago, Bristol Airport has secured services to 17 new destinations, contributing towards record passenger figures this summer. European low-cost specialist Wizz Air has also commenced operations at Bristol – the first time the airline has served the South West market.
The airports, including Newcastle, Birmingham and Bristol have commissioned new research into the costs of devolving APD, which states that without policies to mitigate the effects of APD cuts in Scotland and Wales, English regional airports could see their passenger numbers fall by around 2.2 million by 2025.
The airline plans to introduce new services to London Luton, Berlin Schönefeld, Manchester, Amsterdam and Bristol – the latter of which will be a brand new destination for Vienna Airport.
The airline will offer eight weekly Chambery flights and a once a week Turin service, while a brand new route for the carrier from London Gatwick to Grenoble will see it offer a weekly flight for independent ski tour operator, Skiworld from mid December 2015 to mid April 2016 on one of its three Airbus A320-200 aircraft.
The arrival of the third aircraft has enabled new links to Santorini and Thessaloniki in Greece, plus Pula and Dubrovnik in Croatia, to be introduced from Bristol, while the additional capacity will also enable capacity growth in the existing markets of Zante, Crete and Ibiza.
Bristol Airport is “very confident” it will secure the return of a transatlantic connection to the United States for summer 2016, the airport’s air service development team confirmed on the sidelines of this year’s Routes Europe forum in Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. Bristol Airport has joined forces with Destination Bristol to promote the West of England to airlines and airports from across the globe at the networking development forum.
Bristol Airport and Liverpool John Lennon Airport have this week revealed the key role the Routes Europe forum has played in recent new routes introduced to the two UK airports. Senior management from both airports will be attending this year’s event in Aberdeen with colleagues from local development agencies as they seek to further enhance connectivity.
These new flights will strengthen links to key markets in France and Germany for business and leisure passengers in the South West of England, further enhance the airline’s growing base at Bristol Airport and at the same time providing passengers with a convenient local alternative to the London airports.
Two of Britain’s biggest airports recorded the highest passenger numbers ever in 2014, alongside many other UK airports who have recorded an increase in passengers since 2013.
Bristol Airport and airBaltic have topped the charts in a recent report by OAG which has revealed its punctuality league for 2014, highlighting on-time performance results for airlines and airports.
The company’s inventory for its Thomson and all-inclusive First Choice businesses includes holiday packages from Bristol to Cape Verde, Cyprus and Egypt which will see Thomson Airways and its partners offer new links to Sal in Cape Verde, Hurghada in Egypt and Paphos in Cyprus.
This will be the second regular route for easyJet to Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. It first inaugurated flights to the territory, famous for its Rock of Gibraltar landmark, in March 2008 when it opened a link from London Gatwick.
Ahead of the formal programme at this year's World Routes a number of airports arranged special social events for airline partners. Bristol Airport was one of the more innovative airports about and snapped up a hospitality suite at the historic Wrigley Field.
Already the only UK airport to see passenger numbers grow every year since the height of the recession in 2009, Bristol is bucking the trend again by forecasting strong performance in 2015 after revealing passenger numbers are expected to hit an all time annual high of 6.3 million this calendar year.
The move to introduce these routes is part of the UK’s largest tour operator’s strategy to ensure customers across the UK can fly from their local airport. There are also frequency increases enabling customers more choice and the ability to book a mix of seven, ten, eleven or 14 night holidays rather than the existing week and fortnight options.
