Short haul options expand at Manchester Airport

Airlines operating short haul flights to key business destinations have expanded or restored services this week, Loganair and British Airways partner SUN-AIR have announced.

Scottish regional airline, Loganair, has announced an expansion of its service between Manchester and Aberdeen in response to growing demand. The addition of a fourth daily flight will offer greater flexibility for energy sectors passengers connecting with helicopter services to North Sea oil platforms, while improving access to onward international connections for travellers from North-east Scotland.

Luke Lovegrove, chief commercial officer at Loganair said:

“We are thrilled to expand our offering across our service from Manchester to Aberdeen as we respond to growing demand.

“Our service between Aberdeen and Manchester provides crucial connectivity, not just between two of the UK’s largest business hubs but additionally on to the more remote communities we serve.”

Chris Woodroofe, Managing Director at Manchester Airport, said:

“We welcome Loganair’s decision to increase capacity on its route from Manchester to Aberdeen.

“This service forms an important part of our domestic network, also giving people in the north of Scotland even greater access to the more than 110 destinations across four continents served directly from Manchester Airport.”

British Airways flights, operated by Danish airline SUN-AIR, will restart between Manchester and Billund in Southern Denmark on 31 October 2022. The airline restored links to London City Airport in September, and the additional Manchester to Billund route further opens up Denmark’s Jutland region to UK businesses, while also helping to boost tourism in the city famed as the home of Lego.

Niels Sundberg, CEO of SUN-AIR, said:

“We are incredibly pleased to restart this route from Billund and offer our passengers a direct connection to Manchester with our well-known full-service product on behalf of British Airways. We’ll monitor the route closely and will look to increase frequency if we achieve the support on this service that we saw pre-pandemic.”

Chris Fordyce, Head of Alliances at British Airways, said:

“As the aviation industry continues to recover from the pandemic, it’s really encouraging to see SUN-AIR restarting routes that have been on hold. This route will offer even greater connectivity between Denmark and the UK, and we look forward to seeing its popularity return.”

Manchester Airport Managing Director, Chris Woodroofe, added:

“We are delighted to see SUN-AIR and British Airways resuming flights to Billund. This is a very successful, long-standing service, which plays a crucial role in connecting more than 22 million people in our wider catchment area with six million people in mainland Denmark. I am sure that it will prove to be just as popular as it was prior to the pandemic.”