Eastern Airways to launch Manchester-Southampton link following Flybe collapse
Eastern Airways will operate a route connecting Manchester with Southampton from this Wednesday (March 11).
It follows the collapse of regional airline Flybe last Thursday, affecting a number of flights from both Manchester Airport and Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
Humberside Airport-based Eastern operated several routes for Flybe under a franchise arrangement.
It said that, following the demise of Flybe the full existing Eastern Airways network has continued to operate as normal, and the airline has honoured tickets on Flybe services operated by Eastern Airways for the past few days.
It will continue to do so until the end of Tuesday, March 10, as recognition of customers’ valued and continued support.
Eastern Airways has also announced four further new routes providing continuity and regional protection as they were formerly operated by Flybe.
The Southampton-Manchester and Southampton-Newcastle routes will both begin initially with twice daily services, starting very rapidly on Wednesday, March 11.
A daily through service from Southampton to Aberdeen will also commence on April 27, giving Eastern Airways five routes from Southampton from April.
All new routes are now bookable on Eastern Airways’ website and will show increased frequency up to four-daily in the coming weeks, while further additional routes will be added to help restore key regional connectivity.
Over the course of two months Eastern Airways will have added 11 new routes from a range of regional airports to help significantly restore UK connectivity.
Roger Hage, Eastern Airways’ general manager commercial & operations, said: “We are pleased to announce that our flights are now on sale as we’ve moved quickly to introduce a new booking system for Eastern Airways flights since becoming independent again.
“Our newly-announced routes from Southampton to Manchester, Newcastle and Aberdeen, plus Aberdeen to Birmingham have already been well received nationally in recovering major lost connections which are now bookable at www.easternairways.com, along with our entire existing network.
“Delivering regional connectivity is vital for economic prosperity and regional development which supports our ability to provide a quality, cost effective and speedy service to meet the needs of both business and leisure travellers.”
The independent operator, which was formed in 1997, said it has moved quickly to return to its own standalone booking facilities after its former franchise partner, Flybe, went into administration.
Eastern Airways provides a network of routes from airports including Aberdeen, Alicante, Anglesey, Belfast City, Birmingham, Cardiff, Dublin, Humberside, Isle of Man, Leeds Bradford, London City, Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton, Teesside International and Wick John O’Groats.
