News: Jet2 announce new routes from Manchester and Newcastle
Flights > News > # 986 (25/09/2006)
Jet2 are launching a host of new routes from the north of England next Spring.
The no-frills airline will offer flights from Manchester to Barcelona, Berlin Shonefeld and Paris from March 19, the Polish capital Warsaw from March 26, Toulouse from April 16 and Venice from May 14.
Jet2 has also announced four new services to Spain from Newcastle, starting with Malaga on March 19, followed by Majorca a week later, and then Almeria and Valencia on May 14.
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Newcastle
Jet2 had a good dig at BmiBaby when they pulled out of Durham Tees Valley, but these latest new routes see them going toe to toe with Easyjet, who already operate flights from Newcastle to Palma and Málaga, whilst also offering flights to all four of these cities from various other airports throughout the UK. How will this affect Durham's plans to attract other airlines to fill the vacancy that BmiBaby have left?
We are always glad to see more flights to Valencia, one of Europe's most up-and-coming cities. This was one of the first destinations launched from Jet2's new base in Manchester, with the airline having recently announced plans to start flights from Leeds to Valencia next summer. We're sure that the new Newcastle to Valencia flights will prove to be equally popular. Vibrant Valencia shares with Newcastle a passion for partying and football, and both cities have seen substantial development in recent years. However, whereas Newcastle owes much of its splendour to its setting on the River Tyne, Valencia's Turia river was diverted in 1957 following catastrophic floods which caused extensive damage throughout the city. Now, the dry riverbed of plays host to a superb linear park, encompassing the magnificent Santiago Calatrava designed City of Arts and Sciences complex. Calatrava is a Valencia native, and other examples of this celebrated architect’s work are dotted around the city.
Manchester
The announcement about these extra new routes from Manchester came with a rather puerile claim about giving British Airways boss Willie Walsh a spanking, but we don’t think BA will rise to the bait. Since the BA Connect brand was launched, we have seen a number of route retractions from both Manchester and BA Connect's other major hub in Birmingham. BA’s real focus has been on London, where it has been taking on the no-frills airlines with some very competitive special offers on European flights.
Jet2’s marketing bumf suggests the airline is valiantly taking on the traditional airlines, but it is actually other no-frills carriers that should be worried. Monarch Scheduled already operate daily flights to Barcelona from Manchester, and most of the other cities would also be of interest to BmiBaby, Jet2's main budget rival in Manchester. BmiBaby has recently announced plans to withdraw its operations from Durham Tees Valley airport, and instead to focus on growth at its other bases. Jet2's aggressive expansion will be a real thorn in the side to BmiBaby, who will now focus their expansion plans on Birmingham and Cardiff, where they do not face competition from any other based airlines using similar sized aircraft.
It will be interesting to see how BMI respond to Jet2's arrival on their Toulouse route. The French city has important business connections due to its extensive aerospace industry, and is also a popular leisure destination, both in its own right, and because of its proximity to the Pyrenees. BmiBaby has so far avoided operating flights from Manchester which are operated by its parent company's BMI Regional subsidiary, but the small Embraer regional jets used by BMI Regional have very different costs, compared to Jet2's larger Boeing 737's. BMI Regional might have seen Jet2 off on flights between Manchester and Edinburgh, where leisure passengers can easily find other ways of getting there, and business passengers demand higher frequency, but will they be able to beat the challenge of Jet2 on their flights to Toulouse?
