New Year, good news

As 2012 begins, so does the good news at NQY.  Flybe announced this week they will operate another two new routes from Newquay Cornwall Airport (NQY) to Belfast City and Newcastle in summer 2012, which follows hot on the heels of the airline’s announcement in December that it will also start flying a twice weekly service from Newquay to Norwich in May giving travellers to and from Cornwall a total choice of seven routes and 80 flights per week, a significant increase in destinations served by the UK’s number one domestic airline.

The announcement of the new routes compliments Flybe’s three daily services to London-Gatwick and its decision to increase frequency on their Manchester service to six times a week from March, which also gives passengers the option to connect to Belfast more frequently and further connections to Paris. 

Cllr Chris Ridgers, Cornwall Council Portfolio Holder for Economy and Regeneration said: “At a time when regional airports across the UK are seeing reductions in passenger numbers it is excellent news that Flybe have taken the opportunity to increase flights serving Cornwall.”

To add to the growth at Newquay, Loganair - a Flybe franchise, announced it would operate flights to Glasgow and Flybe will again operate its long standing summer service to Edinburgh.

Building on the success of the scheduled announcements so far, NQY is pleased to announce its charter growth is up, year on year by 25%.  This year Newmarket Holidays will be adding Cyprus to their list of destinations which also includes Lake Garda and Dubrovnik.  Atlantic Holidays are also bringing back their popular sell out departure to Madeira.

The German Flag carrier Lufthansa confirmed they will introduce an additional Wednesday departure to compliment their existing Saturday services between Newquay and Dusseldorf for summer 2012.  This is a great boost for Cornwall’s tourism industry; the service saw a 46% increase in the passenger numbers in 2011 which has led the airline to increase its frequency to meet the demand for air services directly to Cornwall. 

Al Titterington, Newquay Cornwall Airport’s Managing Director said: “we are operating in very difficult times within the aviation industry at present, so to be able to kick start the New Year with new route announcements and expansion of existing services is very pleasing for passengers, the airport and the Cornish economy. The company is working very hard to attract new airlines and routes to/from Newquay to meet the demand for air travel in the South West, in particular focussing on the demand for European connectivity and services to sun destinations.  We would hope that throughout 2012 we will be able to announce further new services being introduced to the airport which the people of Cornwall will benefit from.”

In parallel the airport is undergoing a number of terminal improvement works over the coming months to ensure the very best facilities are on offer which helps continuing improvement to the customer experience.