Topcover
21st Mar 2004, 19:12
Good news for Waterford:
New Waterford-Manchester route
to take off
Aer Arann is to introduce a thrice-weekly service on Tuesday, May 4, that will link Waterford and Manchester airports.
The 70-minute flights on a 48-seater ATR 42 aircraft will depart Manchester for Waterford at 5.30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays and leave Waterford for Manchester at 7.10pm on the same days with fares from €29.99 each way plus tax. On Sundays, flights will leave Manchester for Waterford at 12.25pm with the return leg departing Waterford at 2pm.
Aer Arann began operating a Waterford-London Luton service in June 2003 and over 18,000 passengers had travelled on the route by the end of February. In fact, the demand is such that Aer Arann is to introduce a 66-seater ATR 72 aircraft on the route; increasing capacity by more than one-third.
The UK's biggest regional airport, Manchester caters for 5,500 passengers an hour at peak times, recently breached the 20 million passengers a year mark and is on target to carry 40 million inward and outbound passengers per annum by 2015.
Announcing the new route on which 10,000 passengers are expected to travel in the first year, Aer Arann's managing director, Padraig O'Ceidigh, said the airline was "delighted" to extend the services it provides to Waterford and the south-east as well as adding to the successful Manchester-Galway route that it also introduced in June 2003.
"This additional route is in line with our strategy of building steadily and growing traffic through airports that we know and where we have operated successfully previously. We have been very happy with the load factors on the Waterford-London Luton service over the last nine months or so and would expect similar strong interest in flights on the Waterford-Manchester route when they begin in May."
Welcoming the announcement, the chairperson of South East Regional Airport, Nicky Fewer, said the Manchester service had been actively pursued by the airport's board for some time. "We have been keen to add to the passenger base coming through the airport and this additional route considerably increases capacity on our services to and from the UK. It is also a welcome vote of confidence in our airport from a very progressive airline that focuses sharply on services from and between regional airports."
Mr Fewer also pointed out the immense potential of the new service in terms of marketing the south-east of Ireland as a tourism destination. "One-third of the UK's population lives within two hours of Manchester International Airport and the north-west of England has traditionally been a key market for Irish tourism so this additional Aer Arann service provides the tourism industry in the south-east with access to a huge pool of potential visitors. I would encourage those in tourism here to do all they can to tap in to this market and to look creatively at partnership approaches to marketing."
New Waterford-Manchester route
to take off
Aer Arann is to introduce a thrice-weekly service on Tuesday, May 4, that will link Waterford and Manchester airports.
The 70-minute flights on a 48-seater ATR 42 aircraft will depart Manchester for Waterford at 5.30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays and leave Waterford for Manchester at 7.10pm on the same days with fares from €29.99 each way plus tax. On Sundays, flights will leave Manchester for Waterford at 12.25pm with the return leg departing Waterford at 2pm.
Aer Arann began operating a Waterford-London Luton service in June 2003 and over 18,000 passengers had travelled on the route by the end of February. In fact, the demand is such that Aer Arann is to introduce a 66-seater ATR 72 aircraft on the route; increasing capacity by more than one-third.
The UK's biggest regional airport, Manchester caters for 5,500 passengers an hour at peak times, recently breached the 20 million passengers a year mark and is on target to carry 40 million inward and outbound passengers per annum by 2015.
Announcing the new route on which 10,000 passengers are expected to travel in the first year, Aer Arann's managing director, Padraig O'Ceidigh, said the airline was "delighted" to extend the services it provides to Waterford and the south-east as well as adding to the successful Manchester-Galway route that it also introduced in June 2003.
"This additional route is in line with our strategy of building steadily and growing traffic through airports that we know and where we have operated successfully previously. We have been very happy with the load factors on the Waterford-London Luton service over the last nine months or so and would expect similar strong interest in flights on the Waterford-Manchester route when they begin in May."
Welcoming the announcement, the chairperson of South East Regional Airport, Nicky Fewer, said the Manchester service had been actively pursued by the airport's board for some time. "We have been keen to add to the passenger base coming through the airport and this additional route considerably increases capacity on our services to and from the UK. It is also a welcome vote of confidence in our airport from a very progressive airline that focuses sharply on services from and between regional airports."
Mr Fewer also pointed out the immense potential of the new service in terms of marketing the south-east of Ireland as a tourism destination. "One-third of the UK's population lives within two hours of Manchester International Airport and the north-west of England has traditionally been a key market for Irish tourism so this additional Aer Arann service provides the tourism industry in the south-east with access to a huge pool of potential visitors. I would encourage those in tourism here to do all they can to tap in to this market and to look creatively at partnership approaches to marketing."