GILL Airways is to take over two domestic KLMUK routes as the Dutch airline continues to cut back services.
The Norwich-Aberdeen and Newcastle-Stansted routes will switch to Gill on October 31.
Gill will operate the Newcastle route twice a day on weekdays, a reduction of one daily frequency from KLM UK’s schedule. The route will be operated with an ATR-72 turboprop.
The Norwich service stays at thrice daily during the week, with an ATR-72.
Both flights will have one service on a Sunday.
Fares on the Newcastle to London Stansted route will start at £77.80, and will rise to £277.80 for a fully flexible business return. On the Norwich to Aberdeen route, fares will start at £166.20, ranging up to £326.20 for a fully flexible business return.
Gill’s decision to take over the Aberdeen service gives the airline four destinations from the Scottish airport as it already serves Wick, Teesside and Newcastle.
A spokesman for Gill said KLM UK switched the routes to Gill under its policy of dropping domestic services to concentrate on feeding traffic in KLM’s Amsterdam hub from London and regional airports.
“In a couple of years I can see KLMUK just flying to Amsterdam from the UK,” he said.
By the end of October, KLM UK will have dropped domestic flights from Stansted to Aberdeen and Jersey, Manchester to London City and cut back frequencies between Stansted and Edinburgh.
Extra capacity will be put on UK-Amsterdam flights (Travel Weekly August 16).