Airports add to travel offer as airlines expand services at main North West hubs

The North West’s two main airports have welcomed new routes from carriers based at their locations.

Glasgow-based Loganair is announcing changes to its Manchester schedule with new flights added to Southampton and Exeter as part of the regional airline’s growth plans.

The airline has confirmed that a new Manchester to Southampton flight will run three times daily, beginning October 26. The new route, which will be departing from the new Terminal 2 building, enhances onward connectivity through existing partnerships with Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Aer Lingus.

New daily flights between Manchester and Exeter are also being introduced, with first flights running Monday, October 26.

Luke Farajallah, chief executive at Loganair, said: “The addition of the Manchester to Southampton and Manchester to Exeter routes to Loganair’s extensive network across the UK and beyond further enhances connectivity for leisure and business travellers, supporting our regional economies and allowing customers to travel even further afield with our partner airlines.”

In addition to strengthening its regional flight offerings, Loganair is bolstering its growth ambitions with a new base located at Southampton, allowing the airline to efficiently serve southern communities.

Jonathan Keenan-O’Connor, head of aviation at Manchester Airport, said: “We’re proud to connect people in the North to the places they want to get to, and that includes other parts of the UK. It’s fantastic that the South Coast and South West regions will now be within easy reach for business and leisure travel from Manchester, and Loganair’s new services also give travellers in those regions access to Manchester’s network of more than 200 destinations across the globe.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool John Lennon Airport’s (LJLA) largest airline, easyJet, has announced a new route to Grand Canaria in the Canary Islands starting next winter.

The new twice-weekly route will start on October 27, and operate on Mondays and Fridays throughout the winter.

Tour operator, easyJet holidays, will also be offering package holidays on this new service, with all packages including flights, hotel, 23kg luggage and transfers.

The airline has been expanding its operations at Liverpool over the past year, having added a seventh Airbus A320 family aircraft to its fleet this winter and introducing nine new routes to Split, Malta, Fuerteventura, Prague, Berlin, Marrakesh, Derry, Sharm el Sheikh and Oslo.

Paul Winfield, aviation director for LJLA, said: “This new service will now enable more passengers from across the North West to travel to Gran Canaria from Liverpool compared to the current imbalance in the region and we look forward to welcoming lots of passengers choosing to fly on holiday in search of some winter sun from Liverpool with easyJet.”

Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK country manager, said: “We are really pleased to be adding yet another new route to our network from Liverpool.”

EasyJet launched services from Liverpool for the first time in October 1997, with flights to Nice, Amsterdam and Geneva. It now bases seven Airbus A320 family aircraft and employs nearly 400 people, including pilots, cabin crew and engineers at LJLA.

It operates up to 328 flights a week, covering 27 routes to 17 countries across Europe and North Africa and has flown more than 53 million customers since operations at Liverpool began.