MANCHESTER Airports Group is closing in on deals with international airlines which will see direct routes from Manchester to the Far East beginning soon.
Chief operating officer Andrew Harrison told business leaders in Liverpool last night that two key factors - the recent creation of a hub at Manchester by FlyBe and the forthcoming launch of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner - had sparked new interest from international carriers.
"The FlyBe hub is really starting to work for them - it's early days - but passenger demand has shot up by as much as 120% in some routes, and it makes unviable routes more viable.
"We are talking to four international airlines, about routes currently unserved from Manchester, which will be fantastic news for this region."
Mr Harrison said the new Boeing Dreamliner is a "game-changing" aircraft for the North West and would make sirect routes to the west coast of the US as well as China and the Far East more viable.
He told the
CBI's Making Connections dinner at the Hilton Hotel that international airlines were starting to notice, that with capacity close to maximum at Heathrow and Gatwick, that Manchester is a real alternative.
"I think people have seen the success of Emirates and Etihad from Manchester and that they can connect people differently - not through Heathrow."
Mr Harrison said that although there is opportunities for regional airports like Manchester and Liverpool to benefit from the problems at Heathrow - the UK aviation sector is facing a number of challenges, most notable Air Passenger Duty and other regulations which put UK airports at a competitive disadvantage to European peers.
"As a trading nation, we can't isolate ourselves from the world - and Air Passenger Duty is already having an impact in how international airlines view us.
"We recently lost out on a direct route to Kuala Lumpur to Paris for that reason."