UK regional airline, LinksAir, is to introduce a new UK domestic link between Cardiff and Norwich from the second quarter of this year as it increases the utilisation of the BAe Jetstream 31 that it uses on the North-South Wales air-link between Cardiff and Anglesey that it introduced in December 2014.

The new weekday flight, the only direct link between the two cities, will be launched on April 20, 2015 and will provide a late morning departure from the Welsh capital and afternoon return from Norwich. The flight time of just over one hour will shave around four hours off the current ground links by road or rail.

“It is great to see LinksAir adding new routes from Cardiff and taking advantage of the opportunity to connect Wales even further. Norfolk and the East Anglian region will appeal to both business and leisure customers as well as bring visitors in to Wales,” said Spencer Birns, aviation and business development director, Cardiff Airport.

We revealed that the small UK carrier, LinksAir, was looking to expand its offering from Cardiff in December last year (See ‘LInksAir Takes-Off From Cardiff’) when we interviewed commercial manager, Roger Hague after the carrier launched operations on the Public Service Obligation (PSO) route to Anglesey Airport (RAF Valley).

This scheduled service is supported by the Welsh Government to improve business connectivity and promote economic growth and LinksAir has been working to connect the service with new commercial routes from Cardiff in spring 2015. The choice of Norwich has been driven by the energy links its shares with Anglesey and a through service via Cardiff will be offered on both sectors. The East Anglian region is one of the UK’s busiest regions in the energy sector, especially with gas and offshore renewable developments.

“I warmly welcome the introduction of the new additional flight option from Anglesey, which extends the Cardiff service, through to Norwich,” said Councillor Ieuan Williams, Leader of Isle of Anglesey County Council. “Both locations play an important part in the energy sector, therefore, having efficient transport links between these areas with a common interest can only be of benefit to Anglesey and Norfolk.”

LinksAir is considering developing its activities from Cardiff and could add a second aircraft to its base from autumn 2015 to introduce further connectivity from the Welsh capital. “These could be seasonal or year-round flights and could vary from two or three weekly frequencies to a daily schedule, subject to our final decision,” said Roger Hague.