West African airline, Gambia Bird, is offering its services for the first time from London Gatwick Airport in the UK.
Gambia Bird airline is owned by German airline company, Germania, and is offering a twice a week direct service to the Gambia capital, Banjul, from London Heathrow airport. The flight will then continue on to Freetown in Sierra Leone.
Matt Wood, the head of airline relations at Gatwick Airport, said, ‘We are delighted to welcome Gambia Bird and its passengers to the airport today, offering passengers further choice to the west coast of Africa.
We continue to compete with other London airports and continue to win new airlines and new routes.
By attracting Gambia Bird, we are committed to offering our passengers the best possible choice of destinations they can fly to throughout the year.’
The airline, which has only recently been launched, will be offering its services using Airbus A319 aircraft. The aircraft will be branded with the national colours of The Gambia and will seat 138 passengers in Premium Economy Class.
Karsten Balke, the chief commercial Officer at Gambia Bird, said, ‘Our aim is to build a reputation for quality and reliability via our scheduled and punctual services.
Onward travel connections from Gatwick into Central London and beyond are excellent, so we felt this blended in perfectly with our business model.
And with today’s trend for people to book their own flights, especially if they are returning to a country they love, or to see friends and family, having a scheduled airline that flies into Banjul from Gatwick makes a lot of sense.’
Thomas Wazinski, the chief executive officer of Gambia Bird Airlines, said earlier, ‘Our vision is to change the aviation market in West Africa by providing a safe, reliable and scheduled service across all major cities in the region focusing on air travel for business people, tourists and domestic traffic, alongside local West African expertise, warmth and friendliness.’
