News: CAA study confirms regional airports 'thriving'
Flights > News > # 174 (03/03/2005)
A study published today by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has confirmed the decision of many low-cost airlines to expand into regional airports.
The CAA study outlines that UK regional air services are thriving, as market liberalisation allows for new and existing airlines to exploit new opportunities. The most noticeable growth in regional air services is in the expansion of international scheduled flights, where the number of passengers has grown dramatically from 6.2m in 1990 to 29.8m in 2004.
The introduction of new international services from regional airports unlocked latent demand from passengers who were keen to travel direct from their local airport to a much wider choice of international destinations, according to the CAA report.
One airline currently enjoying the boom in regional operations is newcomer Zoom. In 2004, Zoom Airlines started operating low-cost scheduled flights from Gatwick and Glasgow to six Canadian destinations. The airline has subsequently added direct scheduled flights from Belfast, Cardiff and Manchester, starting this summer.
Debbie Marshall, UK Director of Zoom Airlines said: "When we first launched Zoom we focused on offering low-cost transatlantic flights to cater for the majority of the Scottish and English public with scheduled flights from Gatwick and Glasgow.
"Due to the outstanding level of demand for our services in the first year of operating, we further researched the catchment area of passengers booking Zoom flights and realised the huge opportunity to exploit regional demand for our flights and move into local airports. Our flights are proving to be
extremely appealing to the travelling public and I am delighted to be introducing [flights from] Belfast, Cardiff and Manchester this summer, offering local scheduled transatlantic flights to some of the most sought after Canadian destinations."
The CAA report concludes that the total number of international scheduled routes from UK regional airports is nearly four times that in 1990.
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