canada flights from cardiff airport take off
02.05.05
The first low-cost scheduled flight between Wales and Canada is dues for take off today. The service, between Cardiff Airport and Toronto by Canadian budget airline Zoom, has one-way fares from as low as £89.
Zoom Airlines said it was launching the new weekly service from cardiff airport to Toronto because of high demand from passengers. The airline said it took 500 bookings the week the flights were announced.
Debbie Marshall, the firm's UK director, said: 'We are delighted to be launching the start of the Cardiff airport service which has proven to be extremely popular with the Welsh travelling public. As a holiday destination Canada is renowned for its year-round appeal.'
Zoom is the only airline offering direct flights to Canada from cardiff airport this summer. They are also planning a service from cardiff to Vancouver from 2006.
The flights are a boost for cardiff airport. Last month the airport reported a slump in passenger numbers for the first quarter of 2005 (see this earlier cardiff airport news story). The airport had been the fastest-growing airport as recently as 2003, when 1m passengers used it, but figures for the first three months of 2005 showed a 19% drop in passengers compared to the same period last year.
Passengers on charter flights fell by 39.4% to 79,300 and low-cost numbers fell 9.9% to 162,000. Owners TBI said a shortage of aircraft for no-frills airline bmibaby was one reason for the drop of 19% for the first quarter of 2005. But some experts blamed competition with Bristol International Airport, which has seen another rise in passenger numbers in the same period.
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