29 January 2009

Budget airline switches away from cities

Bmibaby is dropping three city routes and replacing them with resort destinations.

Cardiff flights to Amsterdam and Glasgow are being axed along with Birmingham to Cork.

They are being replaced with a service from South Wales to Almeria in Spain between May 22 and October 22 and a Birmingham to Newquay route between May 22 and September 20.

The Almeria flights will run twice a week from Cardiff and the Cornwall connection from Birmingham will operate four times a week.

Passengers booked from Cardiff to Amsterdam and to Glasgow, and from Birmingham to Cork for travel after March 29 will be contacted by the airline and offered an alternative flight or a full refund.

Prices from Cardiff to Almeria start at £41.99 one way, and from Birmingham to Newquay at £13.99 one way, including taxes and charges.

The airline expects to carry more than 13,500 passengers on the Almeria service, and 20,000 on the Newquay route during the summer.

Managing director Crawford Rix said: "The airline industry is currently seeing a weakening in demand from consumers for impulsive city breaks and an increase for typical sun destinations; this is a direct result of the current economic climate.

"In order to meet the demand for more beach routes, we will be replacing two of our city routes from Cardiff - Amsterdam and Glasgow - with the new route to Almeria, and replacing the route from Birmingham to Cork with the new service to Newquay.

"This will enable us to meet the high consumer demand for services to beach destinations."

by Phil Davies