Belfast International unveils three new routes to Poland

Belfast International Airport was flying high yesterday after landing a hat-trick of new routes - all to Poland.

EasyJet unveiled plans to start flights to Krakow early next year while no-frills Hungarian carrier Wizz Air said it would be launching services to Warsaw and Katowice in May.

The three new routes are expected to produce an extra 70,000 to 80,000 passengers annually for Aldergrove, which this year is on course for a total of five million passengers.

The news was announced by John Doran, the BIA managing director, who said: "This is a major breakthrough for Belfast International Airport because it opens up the fast-growing east European economies to us.

"Poland has a population of 38 million and with an increasing number of workers from there coming to Northern Ireland we expect the three routes to carry significant traffic.

"But there will also be scope for people from Northern Ireland to make use of the flights for business and leisure trips."

Wizz Air plans to use a 160-seat A320 aircraft for its six weekly flights from Aldergrove, three to Warsaw and three to Katowice.

EasyJet intends to launch its service early in the new year and will operate three to four times a week.

The new services will bring to 21 the number of international destinations served direct by schedules service from Belfast International.

In addition 15 domestic routes operate from the airport.

None of the new Polish routes will benefit from support from the Government's Air Route Development fund, which was designed to kick-start more direct services to foreign destinations.

Earlier this month Belfast International rolled out a master plan which it said could see major expansion at the airport over the next 25 years, with 7000 new jobs being created.

Source:belfasttelegraph.co.uk