thanet
Eujet celebrates super first week.....................
A week after the first Eujet flights took off, east Kents new link to the rest of Europe is being hailed as a great success.
Up to eight budget flights a day are now taking passengers to five cities, including Copenhagen,Dublin and Amsterdam.
By the end of the year 22 cities and resorts across Europe will be within reach in less time than it takes many to travel to Gatwick or Stanstead.
Edwina Kilford, spokesman for Kent International said the success of the flights had exceeded all expectations.
Its been a brilliant first week.
Passengers are bustling in and out all the time and the airport is really busy.
One particular nice surprise is how quickly our new staff have settled into their roles.
They have responded to the challenge with tremendous enthusiasm and are delivering a first class service to passengers.We knew we had employed good people and they have gelled very quickly to make strong teams.
We have had a lot of positive customer feedback and everyone is excited about the future.
Most of the staff have been recruited locally, and EUjej have teamed up with Thanet College for training courses.
EUjet spokesman Phillip Bosley said the airline was making Manston a viable contender as an alternative departure airport.
He hit back at criticisms that the airline was not doing enough to attract incoming passengers.
He said 'Our ultimate marketing strategy is to make Kent International attractive as a departure airport for local people and that is what we have been concentrating on.
We have made some efforts to market the service abroad, and that is the next stage of the proccess.
Canterbury is a world famous destination and the airports proximity to it is a big selling point to foreign visitors.
Members of the Clipgate Flying Club who flew out on the inaugural Eujet service to Dublin believe the service has a bright future.
Club secretery Bob Nunn said 'As well as our eight pilot members there were another six pilots on board the aircraft, which is a measure of our confidence in the airlines quality of service and in the prosperous future success of the enterprise.
Flights to Shannon in Ireland start on Wednesday with Manchester,Glasgow and Edinburgh joining early next month.