Belfast to get new mainland airline connection

The UK’s third largest low cost airline, buzz, has unveiled a new scheduled route between Belfast International and Bournemouth, linking the two destinations for the first time.

The route, which marks the airline's launch into the UK domestic market with flights commencing from March 2003, is the first time that Northern Ireland and the south coast of England have benefited from a low cost scheduled service.

Commenting on the new route, Tony Camacho, Chief Commercial Officer of buzz, said: "Traditional airlines have operated a monopoly on flights to the South coast of England and have kept fares artificially high. We will give NI passengers the fair deal they deserve.

"Starting with this new route, we intend to slash prices by half and double traffic between the South Coast destinations."

Albert Harrison, Managing Director, Belfast International Airport, added: "We are delighted to welcome buzz to Belfast International Airport. This is obviously excellent news for the consumer, offering the Northern Ireland business and leisure traveller greater opportunity to travel at affordable prices and increasing the options for inbound business and tourism to Northern Ireland.

"It is becoming increasingly obvious that the type of product being offered by buzz holds tremendous appeal for the Northern Ireland traveller.

"We look forward to developing our relationship with the airline over the coming months."

The Belfast -Bournemouth route heads up a wider buzz network expansion announcement which sees the carrier launch a further six routes across Europe.

Today’s announcement follows the recent launch of Bournemouth as buzz’s second UK base in addition to London Stansted.

The airline is the UK’s third largest low-cost operator and is the second largest budget carrier in France and Germany. Currently flying to 24 destinations across France, Germany, Spain and Holland, last year the airline carried 1.4 million passengers with 86% of bookings made via the internet.

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