LONDON – Stobart Air the operator of Irish Carrier Aer Lingus’ Regional routes, has announced today that it will be adding two new routes into its network from Belfast and Dublin. The carrier said it will be adding flights to Newquay in Cornwall from Belfast with flights due to begin for this service from June 28 on a three times weekly service and Dublin to Exeter which will commence on August 30 on a four times weekly service.
Commenting on the routes, Andy Jolly, Managing Director at Stobart Air, said: “Stobart Air calls on the Irish Government to work with all industry stakeholders to restore confidence in aviation and facilitate the resumption of safe air travel in line with the vaccination rollout programme. In the immediate term, this includes developing a vaccine passport procedure to allow people who have received their complete vaccine course to travel without restriction within the Common Travel Area.”
“Anticipating a successful Covid-19 vaccination rollout which will allow air travel to resume safely later this year, we are pleased to add Dublin-Exeter and Belfast-Newquay Cornwall to our route network. We believe these new connections will cater to both business and leisure travellers with direct, convenient and cost-effective flights between Dublin and Belfast and England’s vibrant, historic and stunning southwest coast.
There is currently no fixed vaccine passport measures in place, however, Emirates airlines recently began trial on the IATA approved vaccine passport with the results still needing to be checked and verified for is effectivity, companies like Stobart Air are now calling on national governments to do more to allow travel between countries where vaccine rollout rates have been hugely successful in stemming the growth and spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Mr Jolly continued to add: “We are committed to providing our passengers with frequent, convenient and affordable services through our regional connections. We look forward to welcoming our staff and customers onboard these new routes.”
After a year of border closures, the news today serves as reminder that there has never been a greater demand for air travel and with many airlines now looking to restart services and even open new routes, only time will tell if 2021 will see a much fast recovery rate for aviation than we have all initially foretasted.
