ScotAirways to start Carlisle to London City Service

[parkfell]

Report in the Cumberland News that a service is likely to commence in April/May 2003.

Are there any further details available, apart from what can be found on the website www.cumberland-news.co.uk ?

Get the price right, and the trade will be there.

[richardhall99]

"DIRECT CARLISLE-LONDON FLIGHTS SET TO START IN THE SPRING

By Staff Reporter
Published in The Cumberland News on 21/02/2003


DIRECT flights from Carlisle Airport to the centre of London are expected to take off in the next two months.

ScotAirways, which fly from Amsterdam, Dundee, Edinburgh, London City and Southampton, hope to operate a service twice-a-day from Carlisle to London City Airport.

The flights will start in late April or May, and will run five days a week. It's anticipated that ScotAirways will use a 32-seater Dornier 328 plane to ferry passengers south.

Carlisle United chartered two of ScotAirways' planes to fly to their January game against Exeter. They are expecting to use the service again when they play Swansea on March 15.

Ben Bedi, operations manager at Carlisle Airport, said: ''This is excellent news. The passengers will be in the air for one hour and 10 minutes and then they'll land in the heart of the capital city.

''We don't know at this stage how much the flights will be but we're hoping to keep the cost down and make them affordable.''

The airport has also put a tender out to local taxi firms interested in running passengers to and from the airport.

Increased activity at the Crosby-on-Eden airport has prompted Cumbria Police to appoint a sergeant to their Special Branch. He will be responsible for policing terrorism at ports and airfields in the county.

Major improvements have been carried out to the main building, runway, lighting and fire cover at the airport since millionaire businessman Dr Edward Haughey bought it from Carlisle City Council.

Dr Haughey, who owns nearby Corby Castle, named London, Belfast, Dublin, the Isle of Man, Amsterdam and Brussels among the destinations to which he plans to start passenger flights.

No-one from ScotAirways was available for comment."


Courtesy of Cumberland News

[niknak]

Until the west coast rail line debacle to London is sorted, this is bound to be successful, providing that the fares roughly equate to the 1st class rail fare.
As for other routes from Carlisle, I wish them luck, but they're too close to Newcastle to compete for much of the other available market share.

So that's where Ben ended up eh? Good luck fella!;)

[opsflyer53]

Scot Airways are sending an aircraft back to Doriner and laying off 6 crew members. Also, there are no slots being held for a LCY-Carlisle service -so I wouldn't hold your breath too long at the moment.

[Buster the Bear]

I hope all is well with Suckling airways, whoops, Scotair?

I miss their 328 flights from Luton to CDG, and listening to the controllers hand the flights off to Lakenheath on their way to Norwich, and back on the reciprocal route

[Mister Geezer]

I also find this a bit hard to believe since Scot Airways were taking on some new flight deck crew and they have been binned just before the type course starts. Reason given is new staff not required due to re-structuring and redundancies. Can't see a CAX-LCY fitting in if this is the case?