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Old 3rd Jun 2016, 19:22
  #529 (permalink)  
Shed-on-a-Pole
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
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I've seen some pretty eccentric route suggestions over the years but idea that flying to a "once popular" ferry port frequented by obese people would be a good business suggestion for a prop airline has had me laughing all day
I agree that the link to 'weight loss surgery' is pretty tenuous ... I certainly didn't know Oostende was famous for it. But don't extrapolate from that the idea that OST is an unsuitable destination in its own right. Firstly, the airport serves nearby Brugge (Bruges) - a tourism magnet of global renown and one of the most attractive cities in Northern Europe. The historic architecture and canals are widely admired. The region's beers and chocolates attract rave reviews internationally.

It is insulting to casually dismiss Oostende as no more than "a once popular ferry port". Oostende is the hub of a very popular tourist coast stretching from Knokke-Heist to De Panne. Oostende offers some of the best seafood restaurants in Europe and a selection of hotels from budget through to luxury. A tramway [De Lijn] centred on Oostende links the string of resorts located along this stretch of coastline.

The busy port of Zeebrugge and the city of Ghent also lie within the catchment of Oostende Airport. The region is also a good base for visits to the battlefields of WW1 centred around Iepers (Ypres). Memorial events and exhibitions marking 100 years since the Western Front campaigns are well worth seeing. The poignant military cemeteries are impeccably maintained. And the Ypres Salient Museum is one of the most moving of its kind. The nearby Menin Gate should not be missed.

The idea of offering an airlink between the North West of England and Oostende is not 'eccentric'. The absence of such is actually a glaring omission. Those of us in the West and North of England are not served by the Channel Tunnel, so a regular air service from these parts makes good sense. Different market dynamics are at play in the South-East, of course.

Your post suggests that you are unfamiliar with what Flanders has to offer the contemporary visitor. Rather than 'laughing' at the region, maybe you should pay it an overdue visit and see just what you've been missing. I take a holiday centred in Oostende roughly every two years and I've never been disappointed yet.
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