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Flybe marks year anniversary of start of flights from Heathrow

Flybe has marked the first year anniversary of flights to Aberdeen and Edinburgh from Heathrow.

Both routes from Terminal 2 at the London hub continue to exceed forecasts.

Extra early morning flights on Saturdays and Sundays have recently been added from Edinburgh and on Sundays from Aberdeen.

The regional carrier operates the only turboprop aircraft to and from Heathrow with an on time performance record standing at 85.1% within 15 minutes arrival time, above the Heathrow average.

With up to four daily services to Edinburgh and three to Aberdeen, Flybe’s flights link to a network of onward global connections including codeshare partners Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, Etihad, Singapore Airlines and Star Alliance carriers.

Heathrow reduced domestic passenger charges by £10 just before Flybe’s arrival last year, making domestic routes more competitive for passengers and airlines.

A further £5 cut on airport charges for UK passengers was applied in January to give the biggest discount in the airport’s history, resulting in savings of nearly £40 million a year and more than £750 million over the next 20 years.

The anniversary coincides with Heathrow announcing that it is to host Bringing Britain Closer – a discussion on UK connectivity with Heathrow.

The event will take place in Liverpool on May 9, highlighting the airport’s commitment to domestic connectivity as the airport progresses its third runway expansion project.

The conference, hosted in partnership with the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, will see representatives from UK airports, airlines and the business community share views on how best to ensure UK air routes thrive from an expanded Heathrow.

Emma Gilthorpe, Heathrow executive director for expansion, who is confirmed to speak at the event, said: “We’re delighted to be celebrating the first anniversary of Flybe’s arrival at Heathrow.

“At the start of the year, we announced an even bigger discount for domestic passengers, and that’s just one of the measures we’re putting in place to boost domestic travel.

“Heathrow has been working hard to ensure every corner of the country benefits from the growth that stems from links to the nation’s hub airport and this connectivity conference will help the industry fully understand how we can work together to achieve this.”

Flybe chief commercial officer Roy Kinnear said: “Our flights from Edinburgh and Aberdeen to Heathrow have proved a significant boost to our UK domestic route network.

“We’ve been extremely pleased with their performance and it’s clear there is strong customer demand.

“The two routes provide a good choice of connections between Scotland and London, and onward to important global markets with our codeshare partners.

“As one of Heathrow’s smaller operators, we are also obviously very proud to have outperformed most of the biggest and best airlines in the world for our environmental performance.”

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