Thomas Cook confirms Flybe partnership
Thomas Cook has confirmed a partnership with Flybe that will open up long-haul routes to regional airports across the UK via the operator’s Manchester hub.
Thomas Cook Airlines hinted at a partnership earlier this year but has today confirmed the details of the deal.
It will mean that customers can fly from Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Inverness, Isle of Man, Norwich and Southampton to Manchester to connect with Thomas Cook flights to the Caribbean, Florida, Las Vegas, Mexico and Goa.
These include the only routes outside London to Antigua and St Lucia, and one of only a handful of flights from the UK to Barbados.
"As we develop Manchester Airport as our UK hub – working in partnership with Flybe – we’re pleased to be able to offer more flexibility and choice for our customers, competing with the very best scheduled and charter carriers with a range of connections ensuring they don’t have to rely on London’s airports," said Christoph Debus, Thomas Cook Group head of air travel.
A spokesman confirmed that when Thomas Cook chose its new long-haul flight times from Manchester, launched in the spring, it already had Flybe connections in mind.
Connections to Sanford in Florida (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday) and Las Vegas (Wednesday) will be available with early morning Flybe connecting flights. A new Las Vegas flight on a Friday starts on 2 April 2014.
From 29 March 2014, Thomas Cook Airlines launches flights to Orlando International, with same-day Flybe connections available on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays and with an additional departure on Wednesday from next summer.
For winter holidays, Flybe flights will connect with Thomas Cook Airlines’ Manchester to Cancun flights on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays on selected dates during the winter.
A new Manchester-Antigua-Barbados Thomas Cook Airlines flight operates from Thursday 19 December. Flights will leave late morning from Manchester, with Flybe connections.
A Manchester-Goa flight departs every Wednesday.
However, for Thomas Cook’s new weekly Sunday Manchester-St Lucia-Barbados route, starting on 10 November, holidaymakers need to spend the night at an airport hotel on the Saturday night.
The airline’s Sunday flight to Goa also benefits from a connecting departure, and from March 2014 Thomas Cook will introduce its first Sunday Florida flight from Manchester.
Those holidaymakers returning into Manchester on a Sunday will benefit from same-day returning Flybe flight back to their local airport.
In addition to new Florida and Las Vegas connections, next summer will also see Flybe flights linking to the Tuesday, Thursday and Friday Manchester-Cancun flights, and the introduction of a new Manchester-St Lucia-Barbados route every Thursday.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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