This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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New airlink between Aberdeen and Brussels
14/02/2007
A new daily service between Aberdeen and Brussels will take off in April.
The Executive's Route Development Fund has helped secure the new air route which Transport Minister Tavish Scott said would open up new opportunities for businesses and bring great benefits for tourism.
Mr Scott said:
"This new service between Aberdeen and Brussels is great news for the North East and for Scotland. It will open up new opportunities for Scottish businesses, and bring benefits for Scottish tourism.
"Brussels is one of the most important cities in Europe. It is the focal point of European Union business and this announcement is another step forward in our aim of increasing the number of direct air services between Scotland and the rest of the world.
"RDF continues to attract airlines to expand in Scotland giving us direct links to some of the world's key transport hubs."
Mary McLaughlin, Director of Transport at Scottish Enterprise which co-funds and manages the Route Development Fund on behalf of the Executive, said:
"A direct air link between Aberdeen and the Belgian capital is an important addition to the new routes already secured through the Route Development Fund. In addition to being home to the headquarters of the European Union's institutions, Belgium is in the top ten of destinations for Scottish exports."
BMI intends to introduce a daily Aberdeen to Brussels service commencing April 2007. It will be a year-round service with a maximum of 7 rotations per week.
Te services will be operated on an Embraer 135 aircraft with 37 seats.
The RDF is provided through the Scottish Budget with £14.4 million funding over the period 2005-06 to 2007-08.
The RDF 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. The exact amount from the fund given to the airline cannot be disclosed due to reasons of commercial confidentiality.
Since it was introduced in November 2002, the RDF has brought am estimated £100 million of economic benefit to the Scottish economy.
There are now over 30 routes currently operating which are supported by the RDF, and last year fund-supported routes carried about 1.4 million passengers.