bmi regional will offer a twice daily weekday operation and single daily weekend offer between Southampton and Munich from April 15, 2016 using Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet equipment. The schedule will support both point-to-point business travellers, leisure demand and will provide connection options via Munich.
KLM will introduce a daily service to Valencia from its Amsterdam Schiphol hub, its first flights on the city pair since May 1993. These will initially operate on a twice weekly schedule from April 23, 2016 but will revert to a daily operation from May 16, 2016. The route will be flown using mainline Boeing 737-800 equipment.
UK regional airline, Eastern Airways will increase services between Yorkshire-based airport, Leeds Bradford and Southampton with an additional mid-afternoon departure.
This ‘start up aid’ will be made available from the Regional Air Connectivity Fund which was announced by the UK government in June 2013 and is open to airports with fewer than five million passengers per year. This fund has already been partly distributed to support strategic routes to London from Newquay and Dundee but is now being extended to bids for more routes.
UK low-fare regional carrier Flybe is to reopen its base at Aberdeen, begin base operations from Bournemouth and launch a new limited programme of domestic flights from London Stansted in summer 2015 as it continues to work to enhance connectivity within and from the UK.
The two new routes stretch from the north of Scotland with a new daily Inverness – Dublin service, to the south of England with a daily Southampton – Hamburg link, both of which will launch from October 26, 2014 at the start of the winter schedules.