BRITISH European is axeing its London City to Aberdeen
and Birmingham to Exeter services after efforts to boost sales on the routes
failed.
Although the airline insists sales have recovered from
their initial dip following last month’s attacks in New York and Washington,
managing director Jim French said neither route had yielded enough traffic to
make them profitable.
He said: “Under the current conditions, we have to
reach a balance between the level of investment in new routes, the continuation
of routes that have failed to produce a financial contribution to the business
and what we can do to strengthen existing core routes.”
French said London City to Aberdeen had “failed to
live up to expectations”, despite the fact that capacity had been reduced since
the end of the summer and sales investment increased. Exeter to Birmingham also
failed to produce enough profitable traffic, he said, despite promotions on the
route.
Also from October 28, the
carrier’s Birmingham to Edinburgh service will be increased from four to five
daily to provide business travellers with a more flexible service, according to
French.