Eastern Airways today announced it would be launching several new routes from Teesside International airport, including a London service.
That route will interest readers as our capital lost its Teesside air link (Bmi used to operate regular services to Heathrow) many years ago.
In fact were it not for the loyalty of Holland’s KLM, this airport in the northeast would have had no scheduled international connections.
Eastern has announced several new routes which are: Cardiff (from February 10), Belfast City, Dublin and Southampton (from March 9), London City (from May 30).
There will also be services to the Isle of Man when the TT Races take place.
In addition the Aberdeen route will remain as well as the seasonal service to Jersey.
Roger Hage, Eastern’s GM for commercial and operations said that “The mix of business and leisure travellers in the region will benefit from this major expansion and we will base three aircraft there”, while Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said:
“Our local people want connections to some of the UK and Ireland’s biggest cities including a direct route to our capital.”
Readers will hope that Teesside-London City proves more successful than Newcastle-London City which started twice and failed twice. One reason it failed, I suspect, is thanks to LNER’s half-hourly frequency down the East Coast Main Line.
Flights are bookable through franchise partner Flybe and reservations will open in the coming days. Fares start from £69.99 one-way including taxes, fees and charges.
