Eastern Airways’ Southampton Flights Resume From Manchester

UK regional airline, Eastern Airways, resumes its growing network of routes from Manchester Airport today.

A daily weekday service to Southampton is the first to be resumed with the frequency of services increasing gradually throughout July, August and September as demand increases.

Following the demise of Flybe, Eastern Airways quickly stepped in to protect regional connectivity to Southampton on an expanding network prior to the Covid-19 travel restrictions.

As restrictions begin to ease, services will be carefully re-introduced with extensive cleaning measures on-board and throughout all aspects of the airport. The safety of all customers in addition to all staff will be paramount throughout the journey including airports and on-board the aircraft.

Roger Hage, Eastern Airways’ General Manager Commercial & Operations, said: “We will continue to increase frequency including the return of weekend services as demand returns along with adding new routes to our network. All services will ensure the safest procedures for our customer care are offered in conjunction with our airport partners.”

Julian Carr, Aviation Director at Manchester Airport, said: “It’s great to see Eastern Airways resume its service to Southampton from Manchester Airport, providing vital connectivity between the two regions and beyond. With a host of safety measures already in place, the security of all our passengers and staff continues to be our number one priority, as we connect people to places domestically and internationally.”

Initially Eastern Airways’ usual complimentary on-board service will be limited to facilitate reduced customer contact. A full anti-bacterial wipe down of all touch points between every service operated and a comprehensive night-stop sanitisation will be implemented. All fares will include 15kg of complimentary hold baggage as part of a quality service.

The independent operator, which was formed in 1997, had moved quickly prior to the Covid-19 pandemic to return back to its own standalone booking facilities after its former franchise partner, Flybe, went into administration earlier in March.

The Humberside Airport based carrier provides a network of routes from airports including Aberdeen, Alicante, Anglesey, Belfast City, Cardiff, Dublin, Humberside, Isle of Man, Leeds Bradford, London City, Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton, Teesside International and Wick John O’Groats.

Flights on sale through www.easternairways.com