Aer Lingus Regional has introduced new flights from Leeds Bradford Airport to Cork Airport in the South of Ireland last week, media reports said.
The new route, operated by Stobart Air, will operate three times weekly. The new Cork-Leeds service is expected to improve business connectivity and increase tourism visitors to the Leeds City Region.
Following the launch of the new service, Martin Saxton, Chief Commercial Officer at Stobart Air, said: ‘Aer Lingus is delighted to offer this new route to Ireland from Leeds Bradford to Cork and since announcing the new route, bookings have been strong for both leisure and business passengers.
‘As one of Ireland’s main cities for business, culture and tourism Cork is a perfect destination for a short break or longer holiday from Leeds Bradford.
‘Equally, we are confident that Leeds will prove to be a popular destination for the Irish visiting Yorkshire for both business and leisure travel. We look forward to working with the team at Leeds Bradford in growing and developing this route.’
Tony Hallwood, Leeds Bradford Airport’s aviation development director, added: ‘We expect regional businesses to take advantage of this new route and for those wanting a short break or holiday, Cork will not disappoint. With great food and lively entertainment you can be sure of a warm welcome and for visitors looking to venture out of Cork why not visit nearby picturesque Kinsale or explore the scenic walking routes along the coast. We expect this new route to become a firm favourite for Yorkshire visitors.’
The move comes as Aer Lingus Regional seeks to increase its passenger numbers at Cork by 60,000 in 2016 as part of an expansion under which it had announced two new routes at the airport and relaunches a third at Shannon. Besides the new Cork-Leeds route, the airline had in December 2015 said that it will launch a five times a week service to Southampton from Cork.
Aer Lingus Regional also said that it will relaunch its Shannon-Edinburgh route, operating six times a week, every day except Saturday, in March 2016. It said the re-launched route will add 35,000 new seats to its Shannon services next year, rising to 45,000 in 2017.
