Aer Arann Opens New Gateway To London

Jan 2011

Aer Arann, Ireland’s regional airline, today announced new direct scheduled services between Waterford and Galway and London Southend Airport, marking the opening of Ireland’s new gateway to central London and the English south east.

From March Aer Arann will fly twice a day into London Southend Airport offering excellent access to central London and unrivalled convenience for business and leisure passengers.

There will be two return flights each day, morning and evening, operating direct between Waterford and London Southend Airport.

The new services, beginning on March 27th, will be the first to be operated into London Southend Airport by an Irish commercial airline and will operate in addition to Aer Arann’s Waterford to London-Luton services under a revised schedule.

Aer Arann flights between Waterford and London Luton will continue four days each week with lunchtime departures on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.

With some flights from Galway operating to London Southend Airport and London Luton via Waterford the summer schedule will also see an increase in flights between Waterford and Galway. The two cities will be linked seven days a week with ten flights on this increasingly popular domestic route. (See schedule attached)

With its new direct rail link and speedy and frequent train services, London Southend Airport is Ireland’s new London gateway with a unique service offering that cannot be matched by major London airports.

• 10 Minutes From Plane to Train with Cabin Baggage
• 8 Trains Per Hour at Peak Times
• 50 Minutes to Central London

With morning and evening flights between Waterford and London Southend Airport, Aer Arann is offering a new competitive choice for the day return or short stay business passenger and the longer stay leisure passenger. Both will benefit from a quick and easy transfer from flight to train with none of the time consuming hassle that is unavoidable when travelling through London’s major airports.

• Train Direct from London Southend to Liverpool Street – the same station served by the Stansted Express
• Faster Journey Time Through London Southend Airport
• Faster Overall Transfer Time to Central London - Train Journey Time Similar to Gatwick and Stansted services and Tube from Heathrow
• More Trains Per Hour in Peak Times When Flights Arrive
• Only 20 minutes from Plane to Train with Checked Baggage

In addition to fast and convenient transfer times to central London, passengers will not experience the long take off queues or the delay and hold patterns commonplace on approach to London’s major airports.

The new routes between Ireland and London Southend Airport are expected to boost both business and tourism travel between the UK and both Waterford and Galway. The two new flights per day open new links from Southend, Essex and the greater London area to Ireland’s regions offering fast, convenient and cost effective travel that will provide a timely boost to the local economies.

Commenting on the announcement Aer Arann, Chief Executive, Paul Schütz said, “This is a very significant announcement for Aer Arann and we are delighted to team up with London Southend Airport to provide our customers with new flights between Ireland and the UK and particularly with central London”.

“We are confident there will be strong demand for these services and that our Waterford customers will be very pleased when they experience the unique convenience and direct access to central London. Likewise UK customers will have Ireland on their doorstep with direct access to Galway and Waterford and we look forward to the ongoing development of London Southend Airport and its potential to provide passengers from Ireland with excellent onward connections to Europe”, Mr. Schütz continued.

Alastair Welch, Managing Director Stobart Air and London Southend Airport commented “Aer Arann’s announcement today marks a significant milestone in the development of London Southend Airport. 2011 is a very big year for us with a new railway station and control tower now complete, and a new passenger terminal, runway extension and airport hotel also underway”.

“This is the year London Southend Airport goes on the international air travel map as a fast, friendly and hassle free new gateway to London and beyond. With our new train station the journey from the airport into Liverpool Street – in the heart of the City of London – will take around 50 minutes”.

Welcoming the announcement, Waterford Airport Chief Executive, Graham Doyle said, “Waterford Airport looks forward to welcoming passengers travelling to and from Waterford on Aer Arann’s new London Southend service and we wish Aer Arann every success with its new route.”

Stobart Group invested €2.5 million in 2010 to develop the partnership with Aer Arann as part of a five-year agreement between the Group’s Stobart Air division and the Irish airline. The agreement involves the development of domestic and Irish routes in and out of London Southend Airport and airfreight opportunities arising from the partnership. Day-to-day management of the airline remains with Aer Arann, with Stobart Group representation on the Board of Directors.

Stobart Group CEO, Andrew Tinkler, said: “This concludes phase one of our development of London Southend Airport, with the fast introduction of new daily services and greater passenger volumes just weeks after our operating agreement with Aer Arann was announced. We stated then that the primary goal for Stobart was the acceleration of our development plans for London Southend, and today’s announcement demonstrates just that – an excellent New Year kick-start for the airport, with more to come in 2011.”

In addition to central London Aer Arann’s London Southend Airport service also provides leisure passengers with direct access to Southend-on-sea. With seven glorious miles of seafront, the longest pleasure pier in the world and a host of exciting events and festivals throughout the route offers a new holiday destination from Ireland’s west and south east.

Aer Arann flights to London Southend go on sale from today, 31 January and can be booked on www.AerArann.com. With fares starting at just €39.99 one way including taxes.

First Aer Arann Flight To London Southend Takes To The Skies From Waterford Airport

March 2011

Waterford and Ireland’s South East business and tourism received a welcome boost today, as Aer Arann’s first flight to London Southend took to the skies from Waterford Airport.

Today’s flight from Waterford was the first to be operated into London Southend Airport by an Irish commercial airline.

To mark the celebrations, passengers travelling on the first flights from Waterford Airport enjoyed complimentary refreshments in the departure area prior to boarding.

From today, Aer Arann will fly twice a day into London Southend Airport offering excellent access to central London and unrivalled convenience for business and leisure passengers.

There will be two return flights each day, morning and evening, operating direct between Waterford and London Southend Airport.

Welcoming the introduction of the first flight from Waterford to London Southend, Aer Arann Chief Executive, Paul Schütz today said, “The launch of today’s inaugural flights mark a significant milestone for Aer Arann and together with London Southend Airport we are delighted to provide business and leisure customers with new connections between Ireland and the UK.”

“Our new services provide Irish customers with unique, hassle-free convenience and direct access to central London. Likewise UK customers will have Ireland on their doorstep with direct access to Waterford and Galway. We welcome the ongoing development of London Southend Airport and we look forward to providing passengers with potentially excellent onward connections to Europe”, he continued.

Alastair Welch, Managing Director of London Southend Airport said, “We’re very pleased to welcome Aer Arann to London Southend at this very exciting time in our redevelopment. Visiting passengers will be able to take advantage of the attractions on offer in Southend as well as the excellent access the airport offers into London. In return our local residents now have easy access to Waterford, to take advantage of the many attractions on offer – including the Tall Ships Race this Summer. Local businesses can take advantage of the regular conveniently timed flights and we look forward to further route announcements from London Southend in the coming months.”

Commenting on the route launch Graham Doyle, Chief Executive at Waterford Airport said, “We are delighted to now offer our South East passengers the option of fourteen flights per week to London Southend; it really does enable doing business or leisure time in London to be more accessible than it’s ever been. We are also looking forward to welcoming inbound passengers from the London Southend catchment area.”

With morning and evening flights between Waterford and London Southend Airport, Aer Arann is offering a new competitive choice for the day return or short stay business passenger and the longer stay leisure passenger. Both will benefit from a quick and easy transfer with none of the time consuming hassle that is unavoidable when travelling through London’s major airports.

In addition to fast and convenient transfer times to central London, passengers will not experience the long take off queues or the delay and hold patterns commonplace on approach to London’s major airports.

The new routes between Ireland and London Southend Airport are expected to boost both business and tourism travel between the UK and both Waterford. The two new flights per day open new links from Southend, Essex and the greater London area to Ireland’s regions offering fast, convenient and cost effective travel that will provide a timely boost to the local economies.

In addition to central London Aer Arann’s London Southend Airport service also provides leisure passengers with direct access to Southend-on-sea. With seven glorious miles of seafront, the longest pleasure pier in the world and a host of exciting events and festivals throughout the route offers a new holiday destination from Ireland’s west and south east.

The Aer Arann summer schedule also commenced today which will see an increase in flights between Waterford and Galway. The two cities will be linked seven days a week with ten flights on this increasingly popular domestic route.

Although the opening of London Southend Airport’s new train station has been delayed by a few days awaiting regulatory approval, free shuttle buses will transport arriving passengers to the nearby Rochford train station just five minutes from the airport.

Aer Arann flights to London Southend are available for booking on www.aerarann.com. With fares starting at just €39.99 one way including taxes.

Wexford Winner Departs from Waterford Airport

April 2011

Lucky Pauline Martin from Rosslare Strand, County Wexford took off to London from Waterford Airport with ten of her friends having won a ‘London plus ten friends’ competition on the Waterford Airport Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/WaterfordAirport

The competition was in celebration of the recently launched London Southend route which offers excellent access to central London and unrivalled convenience for business and leisure passengers with each way morning and evening flights every day, day return to and from London. The new link to the east of London is a great new gateway for UK visitors to the South East of Ireland and offers a wonderful new opportunity for tourism in the South East. These flights operate in addition to Aer Arann’s very successful Waterford to London-Luton services under a revised schedule.

Pauline is pictured with her family and friends and the CEO of Waterford Airport Graham Doyle. For further information on Waterford airport visit www.flywaterford.com or the facebook page Waterford Airport – Photograph John Power.