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John Dundas · Guest

Glasgow gains as internet airline expands

ALASTAIR DALTONTRANSPORT CORRESPONDENT
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/scotland.cfm?id=1059462003

GLASGOW airport yesterday celebrated its largest expansion of international
routes with Flyglobespan.com announcing new and increased services to
coincide with its west coast flights being switched from Prestwick.

The news came as the firm running Britain's air traffic control service
indicated that delayed plans for a new centre at Prestwick look likely to be
finally given the go-ahead soon.

Flyglobespan.com will launch a new Glasgow-Prague service from April, while
the airport will also benefit from new routes to Nice and Rome which the
low-cost airline previously operated from Prestwick.

The carrier will add Alicante, Faro and Tenerife to its destinations, and
start services between Glasgow and Barcelona, after launching flights to the
Spanish city from Edinburgh this year. Other airlines have previously flown
on these routes from Glasgow.

The switch from Prestwick to Glasgow will also mean the airline's Malaga
services being increased from twice a week to daily from next year, while
its daily Palma service will continue.

Several of the routes will operate over the winter after services switch
from Prestwick in November. Flyglobespan. com said it would announce four
new services from Edinburgh within a week.

It is a major expansion for the airline, an internet-based offshoot of the
long-established Edinburgh tour operator, Globespan. It said the move
"confirmed its status as Scotland's scheduled airline".

The firm's move to Glasgow is part of plans to forge links with airlines in
North America.

It has competed directly this year with fellow new airline Air-Scotland.com
on three routes from Edinburgh.

The rival carrier also operated services this year between Glasgow and
Barcelona, Palma and Tenerife.

Flyglobespan.com's flights from Glasgow to Alicante and Barcelona will
operate daily from April, with four flights a week to Tenerife and two each
to Faro, Nice, Prague and Rome.

Tom Dalrymple, the chairman and managing director of Globespan Group, said:
"This is one of the best ever days for Scots travellers wanting to fly
directly, and with a scheduled airline from Scotland.

"The support given to us by Scots travellers has already been magnificent."

Mr Dalrymple said seats, which go on sale today, would start at £35
excluding taxes. BAA Scottish Airports, which runs Edinburgh, Glasgow and
Aberdeen airports, will support the new services through its five-year, £60
million route development fund.

Donal Dowds, the managing director, said: "We are delighted to be playing a
key role in one of the most significant airline route announcements ever
made in Scotland.

"Flyglobespan.com's new international connections are great news for Glasgow
airport and great news for Scotland, strengthening the country's tourism,
business and holiday links. We look forward to supporting the airline's
efforts in the coming months and years."

The launch of Flyglobespan.com effectively rebranded several charter
services previously operated by Globespan. However, it cut some flights and
merged others just two weeks after services started in March following poor
bookings.

The airline cancelled one of its planned three weekly flights from Prestwick
to both Nice and Rome. It also combined one of its remaining two
Prestwick-Nice flights with its daily Palma service and one of two weekly
Prestwick-Malaga flights has also been combined with the Palma service. Mr
Dalrymple blamed the cuts on the Iraq war.

Flyglobespan.com's expansion is expected to fuel further passenger growth at
Glasgow airport, which has increased by 6 per cent in the last year to more
than 8 million passengers.

Edinburgh airport has seen passengers increase by nearly 10 per cent to 7.3
million. However, Glasgow has about twice as many international passengers
as its east coast counterpart, mainly due to its much larger charter sector.

Meanwhile, National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said discussions with
airlines over going ahead finally with a new £120 million control centre at
Prestwick were nearing completion.

The NATS board approved the business case for the complex in July and an
announcement that work will start is expected shortly. The building, to be
built beside the existing centre, was put on hold in the wake of the 11
September, 2001 terrorist attacks.

However, domestic air travel has continued to grow significantly since then
and is regarded as an equally important factor in a final decision on the
future of the project as transatlantic traffic, which is still to fully
recover because of continued American nervousness over international travel.

The new centre, to be completed by 2009, will control airspace over northern
Britain and the eastern Atlantic.