WORLD ROUTES: Cambridge Enjoys Interline and Codeshare Connectivity

What a change a year can make! This time last year delegates from Cambridge International Airport in the UK were at World Routes in Abu Dhabi educating the network planning community of their ambitious aspirations to secure scheduled air services. This year they arrive in Las Vegas with links now available to over 100 destinations worldwide via interline connections including Etihad Airways and new codeshare flights with Alitalia thanks to new direct scheduled links to major hub airports from Darwin Airline.

Cambridge International Airport has proved itself a global player with the recent launch of daily scheduled flights to Amsterdam, Paris, Milan and Geneva with Swiss based-carrier Darwin Airline. Dozens of destinations around the world are now available from the airport. These scheduled services commenced on September 2, 2013 and have been distributed globally through all major GDS systems under the airline’s 'F7' flight prefix.

A new codeshare agreement also launched in September, between Darwin Airline and the national airline of Italy – Alitalia. This link up means travellers from the UK and Italy can now travel to and from Cambridge International Airport via four weekly Milan – Cambridge services and three weekly Geneva – Cambridge services, which include a daily connection to Rome’s Fiumicino airport. The Milan-Rome flights are operated by Alitalia and the Geneva-Rome flights by both Darwin Airline and Alitalia.

With fast accelerating growth in bio-research and innovation, Cambridge is one of the UK’s most rapidly developing economies. AstraZeneca, the world’s fifth largest bio-pharmaceutical company recently confirmed the opening of a new World Headquarters facility in Cambridge, just three miles from the airport on the region’s globally regarded Bio-medical Campus, which will involve the co-location of commercial and research units and the creation of thousands of Cambridge-based positions.

At World Routes 2013 in Las Vegas, Cambridge is joining Visit England on its first stand at the world’s leading route development event. Cambridge International Airport is one of three airports in England working with the tourism board to represent the East of England, one of the UK’s fastest growing regional economies and one of England’s top tourism draws. Cambridge attracts one of the highest US visitor volumes to England, not to mention high volumes of business travellers – something the airport is keen to evolve through US connecting services via its European hub services.

"We are delighted to be joining Visit England at World Routes 2013. Cambridge International Airport has a new and truly worldwide reach, which is great news for businesses in the East of England, as well as on an international scale," said David Surley, Head of business and route development, Cambridge International Airport.

"Our city is among the top five for visitor volumes across many major markets, including the USA, Netherlands and Sweden. The East of England is hugely important as both a tourist and business destination, with some of the country’s most beautiful historic cities, not to mention a thriving tech economy, and we can offer a user-oriented, convenient and easy airport to fly into," he added.

Richard Maslen

Richard Maslen has travelled across the globe to report on developments in the aviation sector as airlines and airports have continued to evolve and…