Bournemouth’s fascination with the skies isn’t limited to the award-winning and internationally renowned air festival – today the UK’s best seaside resort is celebrating the addition of flights to nine new destinations across Europe and the UK, with the arrival of Flybe opening up a world of travel possibilities.
The official opening of the new Flybe base at Bournemouth Airport takes place this morning and expands the resort’s portfolio of international travel links, affirming its status as a truly world-class destination. Two 78-seat Bombardier Q400 jets will offer a total choice of up to 53 flights a week to and from Amsterdam, Biarritz, Deauville, Dublin, Glasgow, Jersey, Manchester, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Toulon–Hyères,
With a yearly total of 300,000 passengers expected to fly on the new Bournemouth routes, the Flybe base opens up a range of globetrotting options for the leisure and business passenger, including a twice daily Manchester service with extensive onward connections.
Flybe CEO, Saad Hammad, said: “The opening of our new Bournemouth base marks yet another important milestone for Flybe. It enhances and extends our already established presence along the South Coast and is set to play a key role in growing and expanding further our regional connectivity. The added choice of routes is important not only for those travelling on business but also for those of our passengers travelling for leisure or when visiting family and friends. Having the choice of fast, convenient and affordable travel options from your local airport is something we consider a necessity, not a luxury.”
Mark Smith, Director of Bournemouth Tourism, said: “We’re absolutely delighted about Flybe’s new base opening at Bournemouth airport. It’s a real boost for the town and works brilliantly for all our main markets – leisure, business and international education. From a leisure point of view, Bournemouth is now a gateway to the whole of the South West and Dorset. People can access the award winning beaches and range of international events more easily than ever before.
“For the business market, Flybe’s base opening makes Bournemouth much more attractive for international conferences, especially those from Europe, and with that comes potential for lots of new business for the town. As for international education, Bournemouth is the UK’s largest centre outside of London, and the new routes from Manchester, Amsterdam and Paris with their links to the rest of the world will help further develop this sector for us, which is already worth over £200m a year to the local economy.”
Guido Schillig, International Education Forum representative on the Bournemouth Tourism Management Board, added: “We have already received positive feedback about the new Flybe routes to Bournemouth. Our international students will be able to fly to Bournemouth using Flybe’s 7 Codeshare Partners and 18 Interline E-ticket Partners. As an example, a student could conceivably fly Doha to Manchester and then Manchester to Bournemouth, jump in a taxi to get to their accommodation. This is absolutely brilliant. It makes Bournemouth and Poole accessible to the world.”
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