BA to relaunch flights from two regional airports
British Airways is to resume flights from Birmingham and Bristol airports with the launch of four new summer-only routes.
In May, the airline will begin direct flights from both cities to Malaga, Ibiza and Palma in Spain and to Florence in Italy.
It will use an Embraer 190 jet aircraft on the routes, which will operate once a week at weekends.
BA previously ceased flying from Birmingham and Bristol in 2007 when its regional airline business was sold to Flybe.
Since then Vueling and Iberia Express, subsidiaries of BA’s parent IAG, have started flyig to Barcelona, Malaga, Alicante, Tenerife, Paris Orly and Madrid from Birmingham, while sister carrier Aer Lingus has continued to operate to Dublin from Birmingham.
The news comes a week after BA announced it is to resume European flights from Manchester and increase destinations and frequencies from both London City and Stansted airports this summer.
Luke Hayhoe, BA general manager commercial and customer, said: "We are very excited to be returning to Birmingham and Bristol with four very popular routes.
"Customers can once again enjoy competitively priced flights to the sun direct from their doorstep with British Airways to those destinations they tell us they want to fly to. We look forward to a busy summer at both airports."
Birmingham Airport chief operating officer David Winstanley said: "Having British Airways return to Birmingham is not only great news for the airport but also the Midlands region and we are confident this is the beginning of a long-term growth plan with the airline.
Florence is the only one of the new routes not currently served from Birmingham.
Bristol Airport chief operating officer Robert Sinclair said: "We are delighted with today’s announcement which will see the iconic British Airways brand returning to Bristol Airport.
"It will be the first time an airline has operated a scheduled service between Bristol and the Italian historic city of Florence which we are sure will prove very popular."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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