Cambridge Airport is set to launch new flights to four European destinations, including Amsterdam and Paris.
Under the plan, fifty new flights will be operational every week and all services will be run by Swiss carrier Darwin Airline. Amsterdam will be the key destination, with 24 weekly flights to and from Schiphol. In addition, there will also be 12 flights a week to and from Paris Charles de Gaulle, eight weekly flights to and from Milan’s Malpensa air hub and six weekly services to and from Geneva.
Established in 1937, Cambridge Airport has not operated international services much except offering charter flights to Verona and Naples, Italy and scheduled services to Jersey since 2012. Located three miles from the city centre, the airport will offer competition for the London airports – particularly Stansted and Norwich Airport. Norwich provides a daily service to Schiphol through KLM Cityhopper.
Cambridge Airport will also have a link with the tour operator Inghams. This will enable holidaymakers to book winter sports packages to 18 Alpine resorts, including eminent names such as Courchevel, Meribel and Val D’Isere. Set to begin in December, the winter sports package will also include Saturday flights to Geneva.
The international air travel boost was first announced in May 2013. At the time, chief commercial officer Christian Schneider said that the airline had chosen Cambridge as its UK base as the city was ‘a perfect fit.’ ‘Cambridge has the fastest growing economy in the UK, and a very interesting regional catchment area – a population of six million potential customers living within a 60 to 90 minute drive of the airport,’ Schneider said.
‘We expect to carry 80,000 people a year from Cambridge to these major European cities, both for pleasure and business,’ he added.
The scheduled flights, with fares starting from GBP119 per person each way and £159 return, are due to begin in September. More information about the new flights is available online at www.darwinairline.com.
