News: New West Country flights from London City
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Flights > News > # 2097 (10/03/2009)
Air Southwest is launching flights to Newquay and Plymouth from London City on April 20.
The new routes will operate twice-daily during the week, and once on Sundays.
Flying time from Plymouth and Newquay to London City will be just over an hour, shaving hours off the same journey by rail or road.
The new flights complement Air Southwest's four times daily London Gatwick service, which operates seven days a week from Plymouth and Newquay.
Air Southwest’s managing director, Peter Davies, said the new London City flights will revolutionise air travel from Devon and Cornwall to the capital.
He said: “We expect it to be hugely popular with business travellers and have timed the flights to fit with busy working lives.”
“Day-return rail travel to the capital is costly and time-consuming. With our new London City service our customers will save hours of travelling time, with great value fares. It's also ideal for a short-break in London, and will help to increase inbound tourism to both Devon and Cornwall,” he added.
Prices on the new flights have been designed to make the new service better value than either rail or road travel, with fares starting at £58 return including taxes, charges and baggage.
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Comment:
With intense rivalry at Gatwick following Flybe's introduction of flights to Newquay, it is interesting to see that Air Southwest have chosen to respond by starting new flights to London City. Will twice-daily flights be enough to make this route work? Most flights to London City operate on a much higher frequency than this, and Plymouth can still offer a decent rail service into London Paddington. Will passengers taking flights from Newquay want the hassle of having to go via Plymouth first, even if this is just for a short stop?
Sadly, I can think of more reasons why this route won't work than why it will, but in these tough economic times, I hope that Air Southwest have got their homework right.
