With long check-ins and never-ending queues plaguing some of the UK’s larger airports, flying locally can seem a more favourable option. Janine Kelso checks out some of the UK’s smaller airports.
Birmingham | Bristol International | East Midlands | Leeds Bradford | London City | Manchester | Norwich International
Birmingham
Birmingham airport pledges that passengers should not queue for longer than 12 minutes in either of its two terminals and has recently installed 10 self-service check-in kiosks in both.
Birmingham airport has also invested £1.5 million in passenger screening equipment, including X-rays and archway metal detectors in a bid to reduce passenger disruption caused by queueing at security search areas.
Ryanair recently announced a massive expansion at Birmingham airport, rolling out 20 new routes to destinations including Pisa, Biarritz, Gdansk, Stockholm and Porto.
Also new for 2008 are scheduled services to Inverness, Dundee and Newquay with Flybe; Cracow, Warsaw and Bergamo with Bmibaby and Hamburg with Lufthansa.
Thomsonfly is starting charter flights to Sal in Cape Verde, Montego Bay in Jamaica, La Romana in the Dominican Republic and Aruba in Barbados; while Thomas Cook has introduced Hurghada and Skiathos to its operation from Birmingham.
Bristol International
Bristol InternationalSelf-service kiosks were also introduced at Bristol International airport in March for passengers flying with Air France and KLM, allowing passengers to bypass queues and save time.
Bristol International airport operations director Paul Davies said: “Self-service check-in is quicker and more convenient, and will give passengers more time to work or relax in the departure lounge while waiting to board flights.
“Through the introduction of new technology like this, we believe Bristol International can continue to offer a convenient and stress-free choice for business and leisure travellers across the southwest.”
Work is under way on a £7.5 million project to transform facilities at Bristol International, including an extension to the security search area, which will increase the number of passengers able to pass through at peak times.
The project is set to be completed this summer.
East Midlands
East MidlandsPassenger growth has risen dramatically for the eighth successive quarter at East Midlands airport.
Latest statistics show 1,195,747 passengers used the airport in the first three months of 2008, a rise of 15.2% compared with 2007. Airport chiefs believe it is the growing choice of destinations that is helping to drive the growth.
East Midlands airport has been treated to an £8 million revamp in the past year, with improvements including new escalators, staircases and lifts in the departure lounge and the relocation of the majority of shops to airside – beyond security – to give passengers stress-free browsing time.
There are also two passenger assistance points where disabled passengers can relax and wait for their flight.
Four new routes have been introduced at East Midlands airport in 2008 including Goa with First Choice, the Isle of Man with Manx2, Palma with easyJet and Warsaw with Bmibaby.
This brings the total number of new routes from the airport to 103.
Leeds Bradford
Leeds BradfordLeeds Bradford airport recently came out on top in a recent study on punctuality by the Civil Aviation Authority, who surveyed 75 destinations worldwide.
The West Yorkshire airport had the highest on-time performance (84%) and the shortest average delay (eight minutes) in the final quarter of 2007.
Leeds Bradford airport operations director Peter Willis said: “The hard work and commitment of our staff and our close working relationship with our airline partners enable us to continue to offer this high standard of service.”
Thomas Cook Airlines launched flights to 17 destinations from Leeds Bradford on May 1, including Spain, the Balearics, the Canaries, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Turkey and Cyprus.
Leeds Bradford commercial and aviation development director said:
“We know for many customers across the Yorkshire region, flying from their regional airport is a high priority when booking their holiday so we are delighted Thomas Cook Holidays is adding to the choice of more than 70 destinations on offer here.”
London City
London CityIn terms of waiting times at security and immigration, London City is the best performer according to users of ukairportdelays.co.uk who took part in an online survey.
Security waiting times are shorter than at any other commercial airport in the UK thanks to additional security lanes that were introduced last year. Inbound passengers arriving at the airport benefit from convenient access to transport after landing, with an average time of five minutes taken from the steps of the aircraft to the Docklands Light Railway platform or taxi ranks.
London City chief executive Richard Gooding said: “Frequent flyers demand a premier service and our proven record of transferring passengers to theirestinations with ease and speed has ensured their continued loyalty.”
London City also added a number of new destinations with British Airways rolling out services to Nice, Barcelona, Warsaw and Amsterdam this year. A new service to Berlin-Tegel was brought in by Lufthansa in January while SAS and Austrian Airlines launched routes to Oslo and Vienna last year
London City invested £30 million in new parking stands, which will accommodate up to four additional aircraft. The project, due to be completed this month, will also include more gate lounges.
The main departure lounge will benefit from 250 additional seats and an extra lounge featuring high-speed internet points and TVs screening live sports. Free wireless internet access will be available for all passengers. New shops will include WHSmith and Nuance, and a bar is due to open at the end of this month.
Passengers flying with airlines VLM, KLM and Swiss will from this week be able to check themselves in for flights using self-service check-in kiosk SITA AirportConnect.
Customer services and security general manager Melanie Burnley welcomes the new technology.
She said: “By speeding up the overall time spent at the airport, business travellers are able to commute with further ease to their final destination. We are keen to continue to offer the fastest and most efficient service that passengers using London City airport have come to expect.
Manchester
ManchesterBmibaby is set to launch two new routes from Manchester airport to Lisbon and Madrid in June, and also to Barcelona in September.
The airline is also increasing the frequency of flights to Ireland West Knock.
Manchester airport director of aviation development Tim McDermott said: “Manchester airport offers 226 destinations worldwide – more than any other UK airport.”
Norwich International
Norwich InternationalNorwich International airport has unveiled new services to the Spanish destinations of Alicante, Barcelona and Palma.
Due to start on July 5, these will be the first scheduled UK flights offered by Spanish airline LTE.
Also new to Norwich are summer charter flights to Croatia and Sardinia, offered by UK regional airline Eastern Airways which has teamed up with Holiday Options to offer the service.
The weekly charter flights began at the beginning of May to Dubrovnik and Alghero.
