Thomson, First Choice, a brand name of Crawley, UK-based Tui Travel, is to add more flights to its schedules for 2014.
The company intends to increase its services from Southend by 300 percent in the next 12 months, compared to its current schedules. The new flights will include a second weekly service to Palma, Majorca, and the opening up of a new destination for the company, Ibiza. The use of local airports to facilitate customer convenience has driven the decision. The additional weekly flight to Majorca will also allow the company’s package holiday clients to have a greater degree of choice over the duration of their holiday, to include 10 and 11-night stays instead of just 14.
Thomson and First Choice airport negotiations manager, Paul Cooper, commented on the company’s expansion at London Southend, saying, ‘Adding these routes from London Southend Airport demonstrates our commitment to the East of England and following the success of similar routes across a number of regional airports, we know that the demand is there and we know customers are keen to fly from their local airport. Expanding access to our portfolio of destinations and hotels is a key part of our overall strategy and we hope that this move will enhance the holiday experience for our customers.’
The additions to the Thomson, First Choice schedule were announced as London Southend airport prepares to open its new Arrivals area by the 17th of this month. This is the second stage of redevelopment at the terminal, with the first stage having opened a year ago.
Alastair Welch, the MD of London Southend Airport, commented, ‘We are very pleased that Thomson and First Choice have taken the decision to expand the services they offer from London Southend so soon and we hope this will allow even more of their passengers to experience our new and expanding facilities over the next year.’
