Surf’s up. New Newquay service kick starts East Midlands Airport’s summer season
East Midlands Airport’s (EMA) summer season gets underway with the launch of Eastern Airways’ new daily service to Cornwall’s popular surfing destination, Newquay, on Friday 31 March.
Eastern Airways’ new route to Newquay, with a flight time of just over an hour, will be a boost for domestic tourism and makes Cornwall an accessible destination for short breaks.
Roger Hage, Commercial Director, Eastern Airways, said: “This is a major step in growing connectivity from and to the Cornwall base and is the only Midlands service from the Southwest of England. By adding East Midlands Airport with the major cities of Nottingham, Derby, Leicester all within 30-minutes and Sheffield within an hour, this welcome addition to the domestic network at East Midlands will aid those who travel for business, visit friends and family or seek a welcome leisure break.
Roger went on to comment “Adding the new destination of East-Midlands significantly improves access to the heart of England and South Yorkshire staycation destination of choice. We want to ensure the right services are being offered given Eastern Airways is all about supporting the regions of the UK, connecting people and places, so growing our Cornish network and capacity is a crucial part of increasing connectivity and aiding economic recovery to both business and the UK’s vital tourism sector where sustainable, both with increases to London and wider connections within the UK.”
Josie Hutt, Marketing Manager, Cornwall Airport Newquay commented: “As we continue to welcome a significant expansion of our route network here at Cornwall Airport Newquay, we are so pleased Eastern Airways has started flying between the East Midlands and the Southwest. Our research and passenger feedback has shown there is much demand for a link into the Midlands region from Cornwall. Eastern Airways has been serving Cornwall since 2020 and it’s fantastic to be launching this inaugural route today.”
Eastern Airways’ recent announcement of their cooperation with Air France means there is now a frequent connection to Paris and ongoing connectivity with Air France’s network. Paris’s Orly Airport is ideally located for exploring the city itself and Euro Disney.
In a further boost to domestic connectivity, Aer Lingus has returned to East Midlands Airport to serve the popular Belfast route.
The airport’s ‘summer’ runs from April to October and starts this year just as schools break up for Easter. More than 86,000 passengers will depart from East Midlands Airport during the Easter fortnight to popular destinations across Europe.
The airport expects this summer to be the busiest since 2019 and forecasts suggest that 4 million passengers will use EMA this year. During the peak summer months, which coincide with school holidays, passenger numbers are expected to return to 94 per cent of pre-Covid levels.
With more flights and extra capacity in 2023, those planning to use the airport this year will be spoilt for choice. Between April and October, the airlines that serve EMA will fly to more than 60 destinations between them including the places that are most popular with UK holidaymakers.
More than half of all East Midlands passengers fly to Spain, the Balearics and the Canaries. This summer the most frequently flown to destinations will be Palma (Majorca) with 35 weekly flights, followed by Alicante (26 weekly flights), Faro - Portugal (24 weekly flights) and Malaga (23).
Passengers returning this summer will also see changes to the food and drink units within the departure lounge. Burger King, Frankie and Benny’s, Pork and Pickle and Starbucks have had a facelift while extra seating has been introduced.
The big attraction of East Midlands Airport is its size. It’s compact layout and the close proximity of car parks to the terminal make it a popular choice with many travellers. The airport is also recognised as one of the UK’s most accessible, thanks to its recent investment in upgrading vehicles and other equipment for disabled passengers while also introducing an assisted travel live chat service - a UK first for an airport. This provides vital communication for deaf customers and others who need assistance wherever they are in the airport.
Michael Grimes, East Midlands Airport’s Customer Services and Security Director, said: “We’re really looking forward to welcoming people through our doors this summer as they set off for well-earned breaks, or to visit friends and family. There will be a buzz about the place this year as passenger numbers return to levels not far off where they were pre-Covid. We’ve worked hard to prepare for our busiest months of the year to ensure that our customers have a seamless start to their journey.”