East Midlands Airport, operated by Manchester Airports Group, is to become a gateway to worldwide travel with the commencement of flights to Paris by Air France.
The new Paris service, which will be carried out via a new code share agreement with UK-based low-cost airline, Flybe, will be twice daily and commence from the 28th of this month. Passengers will then be able to connect with Air France’s Paris hub at Charles De Gaulle Airport, and the 180 worldwide destinations that the French airline has to offer from there. This adds to other existing code share arrangements between the two airlines.
Bombardier Q400 aircraft will be used on the route, each with a 78-seat capacity.
Commenting on the new flights, Air France KLM UK and Ireland general manager, Henri Hourcade, said, ‘The new flights offer travellers from the East Midlands region a world of convenient onward connections to 117 long haul destinations, operated by Air France and our partners. We are very excited to be further expanding our services from East Midlands Airport through another joint venture with Flybe.’
The new flights are the latest coup for East Midlands Airport, which has steadily gained a number of routes and service providers in recent times, helping to maintain its profile despite the recent loss of defunct airline, Bmibaby. Monarch airlines has established a base at the airport and low-cost airline, Jet2, which commenced routes from East Midlands in May 2010, has said that it will expand its operations and routes from the summer of 2013.
