Flybe growth could lead to new Norwich routes

A multi-billion pound investment in new planes could pave the way for new routes from Norwich International Airport, according to Flybe chief commercial officer Mike Rutter.Exeter-based Flybe - the main operator of flights from Norwich - yesterday unveiled plans for major European expansion after confirming a £1.3bn order for 35 Embraer E175 aircraft, with the possibility of 105 more to follow.While two-thirds of the planes will serve airports in continental Europe, one third will target routes between the UK and Europe.Mr Rutter said the company would be approaching airports to investigate the feasibility of specific new routes ahead of the delivery of the first batch of aircraft in early 2011.While no decisions have yet been made on new routes, Mr Rutter said Norwich was on the list of airports to consider.Because of their size, Mr Rutter said the planes would particularly well suited to journeys of between one-and-three-quarter and two-and-a-half hours, making routes from Norwich to Germany and Scandinavia a possibility.Mr Rutter said: “We are starting to work with airports to identify possible new services, and Norwich is certainly on the list of the places we are considering.“The traffic flows have got to be there for us to consider new routes.“Newcastle and Exeter are already sustaining routes to Germany, and I imagine hopefully there will be something in there that will work for Norwich.“The attraction of Germany is that it gets a good mix of passengers, both business, people visiting friends and relatives and thirdly leisure travellers.“In Germany you get a good level of inbound tourism back to the UK, able to attract Germans into the UK for tourism purposes.”Andrew Bell, chief executive of Norwich airport, welcomed Flybe's investment in new planes and said Germany was already on his list for possible new routes.He said: “We have identified a significant amount of business traffic to Germany from the region, and I hope we can prove competitive when Flybe is looking at new regional routes with these new aircraft.”Set up in 2002, Flybe is Europe's largest regional airline, with 203 routes serving 13 countries.

Courtesy of EDP