This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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New Aberdeen to Bristol air route
07/07/2004
A new direct flight between Aberdeen and Bristol
supported by the Executive's special Route Development Fund
was announced today.
Eastern Airways will begin direct flights from November
1 operating a Jetstream 41 aircraft. It is the 21st route
to receive funding from the fund.
Transport Minister Nicol Stephen said:
"The Executive, through its Route Development Fund, is
determined to increase the number of direct travel
opportunities available to attract inbound business and
tourism.
"The Eastern service is good news for the North East and
will be particularly welcomed by the region's business
community. Direct flights from Scotland mean we can seize
on new opportunities and speed up travel times to key
destinations."
Mary McLaughlin, Director of Transport at Scottish
Enterprise which manages the RDF on behalf of
the Executive, said:
"The creation of the first direct route between north
east Scotland and south west England offers the potential
for substantial economic benefits by linking two areas that
were largely inaccessible to each other without a time
consuming combination of air, road and rail travel.
"Although the Route Development Fund is noted for new
direct international services, this announcement highlights
the importance of the Fund in securing valuable domestic
direct routes, following as it does Eastern's other new
direct service to Birmingham from Inverness."
Philip Riddle, Chief Executive of VisitScotland,
said:
"The launch of this new service provides a fantastic
opportunity to open up a new route from the South West of
England to Scotland, which we hope will prove extremely
popular with both business and leisure travellers
alike.
"Given the bulk of our domestic market is drawn from
England any additional direct access to Scotland is hugely
welcome and we wish Eastern Airways every success with the
venture and look forward to welcoming even more people from
the Bristol region to Scotland."
The RDF is provided through the 2002 Scottish Budget
with £5.5 million from the Executive, £1 million from
Scottish Enterprise and £300,000 from Highlands and Islands
Enterprise.
It supports new air links where airlines can demonstrate
the services will have a direct economic benefit to
Scotland. The flights must involve regularly scheduled
services and must not undermine existing flights. There
have been 21 offers of support to date. The exact amount
from the fund given to the airline cannot be disclosed due
to reasons of commercial confidentiality.