Eastern Airways is expanding the number of routes it provides from Southampton Airport to six with the announcement that it will reconnect the south coast of England to Belfast City.
From March 23 2020, the UK regional airline will provide up to seven flights a week from Southampton to Belfast City Airport, which was a former Flybe route.
This week, Eastern Airways has already moved rapidly to commence services from Southampton to Manchester and Newcastle, both initially at 11 flights a week along with a new route to Teesside International Airport in the north east of England with 11 flights a week.
Roger Hage, Eastern Airways’ general manager commercial and operations, said: “Adding a Belfast City service from Southampton Airport, along with our new Manchester and Newcastle services which we started here today, following Monday’s launch to Teesside, is a significant expansion with up to 70 departures a week in total. We are ensuring Southampton is reconnected to the regions throughout England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
“Initially the Belfast City route will be daily and reconnects the south coast of England to Belfast for business and leisure, while inbound passengers have the London rail connection within the hour and access to the major cruise offering via the port. By providing six destinations from Southampton, frequency and additional destinations will continue to increase.”
Following Flybe entering administration, the full existing Eastern Airways network has continued to operate as normal. The independent operator, which was a former franchise partner of Flybe, moved quickly returning to its own standalone booking system over the weekend.