bmibaby announce massive expansion plan from East Midlands Airport

bmibaby has announced a massive expansion plan from East Midlands Airport (East Midlands Airport : Nottingham, Leicester & Derby). The plan breaks down into three key initiatives:
1. Three additional aircraft to be based at East Midland Airport
2. Eight new European routes from the airport to: Alghero (Sardinia), Barcelona, Bastia (Corsica), Cork, Dubrovnik (Croatia), Malta, Newquay and Venice
3. Increased frequencies on key winter and summer routes, with the addition of Palma to the winter flying programme, and a year round service to Geneva and Prague
As a result of the new routes and additional frequencies, the airlines’ capacity will increase by 40 per cent from East Midlands Airport. bmibaby’s expansion plan will mean that an additional 350,000 passengers will fly with the airline from East Midlands Airport in 2010, and an additional 2,872 flights will be operated by the airline next year from the airport. Flights will go on sale today (09 September, 2009) and are available to book at http://www.bmibaby.com/. The news comes just days after easyJet announced its departure from East Midlands Airport.

Flight Schedule for Alghero:

Alghero (Sardinia)
29 May 2010 to 25 September 2010
Saturday
£39.99


bmibaby now offer 24 European destinations from East Midlands Airport: Alghero (Sardinia), Alicante, Almeria, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bastia (Corsica), Belfast International, Cork, Dubrovnik (Croatia), Edinburgh, Faro, Geneva, Glasgow International, Grenoble, Jersey, Malaga, Malta, Menorca, Newquay, Nice, Palma, Paris (CDG), Prague and Venice.
Crawford Rix, managing director, bmibaby, said:
“Our rapid expansion programme at East Midlands Airport is fantastic news for the Midlands. It not only further demonstrates our commitment to the airport, but also to the people of the region, as we continue to offer low fares to a range of exciting new European destinations.
“As well as announcing eight new routes today to Sardinia, Barcelona, Corsica, Cork, Croatia, Malta, Newquay and Venice, we have also increased our capacity on key winter and summer routes to meet the extra consumer demand.
“We are confident that the services will prove extremely popular and we will make sure that everyone who wants to fly can, whether it’s for a sunshine holiday, a city break or for an important business trip.
“We continue to be a champion of the consumer market – currently we are offering no credit and debit card fees on all flights, and skis and snow boards fly free of charge on bookings to any of our ski destinations. Plus all passengers travelling with us are allocated a seat, so there is no need to dash for seat, and customers can enjoy the benefits of the UK’s most generous frequent flyer programme - bmi diamond club.
“bmibaby and bmi have operated from East Midlands since the airport opened in 1965 – and is an embedded part of the local community. We recognise the size of the East Midlands market and its future potential, and we will continue to offer the people of the East Midlands low cost flights with a high quality service. bmibaby is here to stay!”
Penny Coates, managing director, East Midlands Airport, said:
"This is fantastic news for our passengers because bmibaby are not only adding new routes but also extra destinations for summer 2010, a significant increase in the number of flights to popular winter and summer destinations, and the addition of three based aircraft, meaning an even greater choice.
"The bmi group have served the East Midlands region for 45 years; they are a local, long term operator that is committed to the growth of the East Midlands region. bmibaby has continued to go from strength to strength with their East Midlands Airport operation by providing a comprehensive range of business and leisure destinations combined with competitive low fares.
"Offering 24 European destinations shows that bmibaby is committed to the airport and the region and we are looking forward to working with them to make these new routes a great success."

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Ryanair to increase cost of checking in luggage

Ryanair is increasing its luggage check-in charges from next month, the Guardian reports. The cost of checking in a bag will rise from £20 to £30 for a return flight, while a second bag charge will increase from £40 to £70. Ryanair said the higher fees would reduce the amount of checked-in luggage and cut baggage-handling costs, allowing the airline to cut fares. Seven out of 10 Ryanair passengers now travel with one piece of hand luggage, the budget airline said. It added that a 20% reduction in fares would save passengers €500m (£435m) this year while the bag charges would add just €100m to travellers' costs. (Photo: Flickr)

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Italian airport traffic down less than 1% in July; Bologna and Bergamo up more than 10%

Latest traffic figures for Italian airports show that in July many airports were once again reporting growth. Overall total passenger numbers are down less than 1% in July, with domestic traffic up almost 1% and international traffic down just under 2%. Bologna and Milan Bergamo are the fastest growing of the major airports reporting 14.1% and 16.9% growth respectively. Palermo, Pisa and Rome Ciampino also reported growth in July, but Italy’s two biggest airports at Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa saw demand fall by 7.3% and 2.6% respectively.

Among smaller airports reporting significant growth in July were Trapani (+113.3%), Cuneo (+35.5%), Perugia (+25.0%), Bari (+21.2%), Cagliari (+21.2%) and Alghero (+19.1%).
Year to date traffic down 6.4%
For the period January to July total passenger traffic is down 6.4% compared with 2008, with domestic traffic down 6.5% and international traffic down 6.2%. However, some of the larger airports have reported modest growth such as Bergamo (6.8% growth driven by a 46% increase in domestic traffic as international traffic fell 1.2%), Bologna (+6.5%) and Pisa (+0.9%).

Source: Anna.aereo



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