This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Inverness to Birmingham flights
08/09/2003
A new direct flight from Inverness to Birmingham is to
be set up using financial help from the Executive's £6.8
million Route Development Fund.
Transport Minister Nicol Stephen will make the
announcement in Edinburgh at the opening reception of the
9th Annual World Route Development Forum, is the premiere
international airline networking event.
He said UK regional airline, Eastern Airways, would
start the twice-daily service in November.
The RDF was set up last November to help secure new
direct air services to Scotland, with today's announcement
bringing the total number of supported routes to 12.
Mr Stephen said:
"Direct links between Inverness and Birmingham will
provide better business opportunities for the north of
Scotland as well as offering a boost to the Highland's
tourism industry.
"Support for this service demonstrates the Executive's
commitment to extending the benefits of the Route
Development Fund to the whole of Scotland.
"I am pleased to be able to make this announcement at
the 9th Annual Route Development Forum, which has bought
more than 1,000 of the air industry's key decision-makers
to Edinburgh. The Executive is committed to extending the
number of direct flights to Scotland through the Fund and
to capitalise on the expected benefits from the Routes
Forum."
The new route was secured with investment from the RDF,
Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Highland Islands
Airports Limited.
HIE Transport Policy Manager, Tom Matthew, said:
"We very much welcome the development of more direct air
services to our region. This service will benefit
businesses and communities in the Inverness area and
further afield. The support the HIE Network has provided in
addition to that from the Route Development Fund shows our
strong commitment to improving our region's
connectivity"
The RDF is provided through the recent Scottish budget
resources with £5 million from the budget, £500,000 from
the Integrated Transport Fund, £1 million from Scottish
Enterprise and £300,000 from Highlands and Islands
Enterprise.
The fund is operated in partnership with Highlands and
Islands Enterprise, VisitScotland. Scottish Enterprise
administers the main fund on the Executive's behalf. In the
Highlands and Islands it is administered by a Steering
Group which includes the Executive and HIE.
The annual World Route Development Forum brings airport
and airline delegates together over a 3-day period to
discuss new and enhanced route development opportunities.
Delegates from an expected 200 airlines and more than 250
airports will attend the event in Edinburgh between 7-9
September.
'Routes' is the largest gathering of airline network
planners assembled together at any one time, with more than
1,000 delegates attending. Previous hosts include: Cannes
1995, Abu Dhabi 1996, Oslo 1997, London 1998, Rome 1999,
Amsterdam 2000, Dublin 2001 and Athens 2002, at which the
Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong
Learning was present.