From todays Bourneomouth Echo:
NEW Bournemouth airport boss Keith Kerr is off to a flying start, with hopes of announcing a new low-cost airline coming on board within the next three months.
It will be a welcome boost for the Hurn complex, which suffered a major blow in February when Ryanair's takeover of low-cost rival Buzz saw a string of new European destinations being axed.
"It's ripe for such an opportunity to come along and with a following wind and a bit of luck it may be possible to make an announcement very soon," said Mr Kerr.
Interest from cut price airlines wishing to operate out of Bournemouth is still very strong, according to the new managing director.
Head of property services, Steve Rippon-Swaine, who has been holding the fort since former airport chief Glyn Jones resigned suddenly in September, added: "The Buzz fiasco was dire but it showed there was a huge pent-up demand for low-cost flights to tourist destinations."
Fresh from his role as general manager for customer service and operations with British Airways at Heathrow, Mr Kerr has big plans for expanding the Bournemouth site.
The airport already has planning permission for a new terminal building, which could see capacity rise to around 1.25 million passengers per year, and the development will go ahead as soon as the passenger demand warrants it, said Mr Kerr.
"It all depends on the success of the airport within the next three years, but we hope to be able to make a decision by 2006," he said.
"The catchment area for the airport covers some 4 million people, but we're only reaching about half a million at the moment. There is a huge potential for growth."
In the meantime, he hopes to increase the number of scheduled flights available to local passengers.
Mr Kerr, 48, brings a wealth of experience from over two decades at British Airways, where he moved from stints in the engineering and finance departments through to managing customer services and operations at Heathrow's terminal four.
Another key success was a secondment as president and chief executive officer with Air Jamaica, where he saw through the successful privatisation of the airline.
Rumours rife over airline
RUMOUR is rife in the industry as to which low-cost airline may come to Bournemouth.
Speculation appeared on one website for pilots and aviation professionals on Tuesday.
One worker in air traffic control speculates that easyjet will makes Bournemouth its 11th UK base, with eight aircraft operating from here in the next three years. Another message hints the same.
Jet2, which is based at Leeds-Bradford and flies to 12 European destinations, has also been named as a possibility, the logic being that parent company Channel Express is based at Bournemouth.
And another message suggests that bmibaby, which currently operates from Cardiff, East Midlands, Teeside and Manchester, could be on the cards.