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Zooming into Regional Airports
03 March 2005
A recent study published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) confirms Zoom Airlines' decision to expand into regional airports.
The development in long-haul scheduled flights from regional
airports is a key contributing factor in the exceptional growth
rate of the total number of passengers using UK regional
airports.
The CAA study outlined that UK regional air services are thriving
as market liberalisation allows for new and existing airlines to
exploit new opportunities. The most noticeable growth in regional
air services is in the expansion of international scheduled flights
where the number of passengers has grown dramatically from 6.2m in
1990 to 29.8m in 2004.
Zoom Airlines, a relatively new contender in the long-haul
scheduled market place, realised the potential for direct
international flights from the UK to Canada offering full serviced
flights at a fraction of the price. In 2004, Zoom started operating
scheduled flights from Gatwick and Glasgow to six Canadian
destinations including Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary,
Edmonton and Ottawa.
The introduction of new international services from regional
airports unlocked latent demand from passengers who were keen to
travel direct from their local airport to a much wider choice of
international destinations, according to the CAA report.
Zoom recognised the need to expand into regional airports
throughout the UK to cater for localised demand for their services
and have added direct scheduled flights from Cardiff, Manchester
and Belfast, starting this summer.
Debbie Marshall, UK Director of Zoom Airlines said: "When we first
launched Zoom we focused on offering low-cost transatlantic flights
to cater for the majority of the Scottish and English public with
scheduled flights from Gatwick and Glasgow.
"Due to the outstanding level of demand for our services, in the
first year of operating, we further researched the catchment area
of passengers booking Zoom flights and realised the huge
opportunity to exploit regional demand for our flights and move
into local airports. Our flights are proving to be extremely
appealing to the travelling public and I am delighted to be
introducing Cardiff, Manchester and Belfast this summer, offering
local scheduled transatlantic flights to some of the most sought
after Canadian destinations."
The CAA report stated that the total number of international
scheduled routes from UK regional airports is nearly four times
that in 1990 with Zoom contributing to the increase in
transatlantic services, offering low-cost flights from five UK
airports to eight Canadian destinations.
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