Flybe Shakes up Scotland-London Travel

Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, has just launched three new routes from Scotland to London City Airport. I popped down on the inaugural flight from Edinburgh Airport to London City Airport for the launch.

Being Checked in by Edinburgh Airport’s Top Man (in every way) – Gordon Dewar

The new Edinburgh Airport service steps into what had been a bit of a gap at this progressive airport and provides welcome direct competition with BA’s London City flights from Scotland.  Flybe are offering a four times daily service between Edinburgh and London plus twice daily flights to and from Inverness. Handily they have also stepped in to retain the twice-daily service from Aberdeen to London City, bringing the total number of direct destinations offered by Flybe from Scotland, to 28.

They will be using Bombardier Dash-8 turboprops, having recently decided to move away from the Embraer jets that BA fly on the City route. I actually quite like the Dash-8. It is very quiet for a prop aircraft and my flight was smooth and easy both ways with the flight time similar to the jets on the Edinburgh-London route.

Speaking of the launch Paul Simmons, Flybe’s Chief Commercial Officer, explained: “We’re delighted to offer these three new Flybe services between Scotland and London City Airport. The additional routes are already proving to be a popular choice with our customers.

“Flybe is today already connecting over 7 million passengers a year throughout the UK and Europe. With these three major London connections from Scotland, we are not only cementing our position as Europe’s largest regional airline but also upholding our customer promise to be faster than rail or road –  ‘The Fastest Way from A to Flybe’.”

The launch certainly attracted the movers and shakers. Alex Salmond flew down to welcome in the routes, with a UK government minister also on hand to usher in a new dawn for Scotland-London travel.

The main attraction for travellers will surely be that the flights get you straight into the centre of London not a distant airport outside the city like Stansted, Luton or even Gatwick. From this user-friendly, no fuss small airport on the Docklands Light Railway passengers can be in Canary Wharf in 12 minutes and via the London Underground Westminster in around half an hour. Passengers coming in the other direction can easily get to London City too making it an attractive proposition for flying to Scotland.

Another attraction is the punctuality promise, a ‘60:60 guarantee’ that promises to customers if a flight arrives more than 60 minutes’ late at its destination due to a delay within Flybe’s control, they will qualify for a £60 voucher towards their next flight.

One way fares including taxes and charges start from £49.99 and are on sale now at www.flybe.com