Bournemouth Airport has confirmed they are looking to increase the number of locations they service following a tough six months and continued competition from Southampton Airport.
In November 2015, Flybe announced they were pulling out of Bournemouth Airport, just six months after they had restarted flights from the town.
At the time, Flybe chief commercial officer Paul Simmons said that the airline’s decision to consolidate operations at Southampton airport would:
“Enable more frequency and more choice to our customers.”
Last summer, Flybe represented 17% of passengers using Bournemouth Airport.
Sally Windsor from Manchester Airports Group, who own Bournemouth Airport, said that they had been disappointed by Flybe’s decision and that they are working with both Ryanair and Thomson, “to identify new growth opportunities so that we can expand the range of destinations”.
Ms Windsor also confirmed that the airport were offering several additional ‘fly cruises’ this winter, with flights to Barbados meeting with cruise ships in the Caribbean.
Despite these efforts, competition with Southampton Airport, owned by AGS Airports Ltd is strong.
Earlier this month, Southampton announced that BMI would be commencing twelve weekly flights to Munich. They have also added several new summer flights to destinations in France and Spain.
Bournemouth Airport opened a new £45m terminal in 2010 and had hoped to handle up to three million passengers. 2014 figures put passenger footfall at approximately 661,000.
