Flybe has Bright Prospects for Dutch-Highland Link

Posted 06/09/2011

UK low-fare carrier Flybe yesterday (September 5) launched flights between Inverness and Amsterdam, marking the resumption of a regular service to one of Europe’s main hub airports for passengers in the Highlands of Scotland.  In the past British Airways and more recently bmi british Midland International have operated flights from the most northerly city in the United Kingdom to London Heathrow, but pressure on slots at the London airport meant that these services were terminated, leaving no real link to a hub airport.

Highlands & Islands Airports Limited (HIAL), the operator of Inverness Airport, has been pushing for the connection to Amsterdam for many years, but it has taken a real collaborative effort between the airline, airport as well as funding support from Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE), the Highland Council, the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (HITRANS) and VisitScotland to make the route a reality.

According to Andrew Strong, Managing Director, Flybe UK, the initial volume of bookings ahead of the route’s launch has been “very promising” and he suggests that this is an early inidication of the route’s likely success.  “The fact it has proved popular with both the business and leisure markets is particularly pleasing as it shows that passengers from both countries are benefitting from this convenient and affordable route in order to visit these fantastic destinations,” he added.

The low-fare carrier will initially offer six flights per week on the route, increasing to a daily schedule from summer 2012.  The airline hopes to not just attract outward traffic from Inverness but to bring overseas visitors into the City and surrounding areas.  Inverness is a popular tourist destination for European and North American visitors, eager to enjoy its scenery and even the possibility of sighting the legendary Loch Ness monster and this route will enable connections to be offered via the KLM network to destinations across the globe.

Amsterdam is a destination many Scots consider to be the perfect romantic getaway, with Flybe reporting a surge in demand for couples booking the route from Inverness.  For the Dutch counterparts however, the Highland’s beautiful scenery and range of historical sites seem to be appealing to the family audience with bookings for the route during Holland’s October half term already experiencing uplift, according to Flybe, as Dutch families plan their half term breaks.

This will not be Inverness’ first link to Amsterdam though.  KLM’s UK division, KLM uk, served the route in 1997 and 1998, while ScotAirways launched a service on September 10, 2001, the day before the 911 terrorist atrocities, but suspended services just three weeks later due to a fall in passenger demand.

---

With effect from March 19, 2012 the Breaking News coverage on Routesonline is powered by Airline Route.  For more analysis on these stories please read our expanded coverage of the key stories of the day in The HUB. 

You can also keep up to date with the latest network development news by following the live updates from @Routesonline, @TheHUBRoutes, @RouteExchange and @airlineroute on Twitter.  While all the latest news from our events can be seen by searching the #RoutesAfrica, #RoutesAmericas, #RoutesAsia, #RoutesCIS, #RoutesEurope and #WorldRoutes hashtags.

All material is copyright of UBM Aviation Routes but the views expressed are not necessarily the views of UBM Aviation Routes and the company shall therefore not be liable for the contents of any article that appears on the site.  Although the best efforts have been taken in collecting and checking the material we can not and do not warrant that the information contained in this product is complete or accurate and does not assume and hereby disclaims liability to any person for any loss of damage caused by errors or omissions.

PLEASE NOTE: From March 7, 2012 schedule data for all news stories has been extracted from OAG Schedules iNET; All GDS data is based on a live GDS update on the day of publication; Traffic data extracted from IATA BSP system for the year ending December 2011.  All information is subject to change.