Humberside Airport Blog

Humberside hails return of Ryanair

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:56:54 GMT

Humberside Airport is to team up with budget airline Ryanair for the first time in four-and-a-half years. The modest hub, located on the east coast of England, could potentially gain an extra 20,000 passengers a year as part of the deal, which will see a new twice-weekly route to Alicante in Spain introduced from April 2011.

Despite its small size, Humberside Airport, along with Aberdeen, fills an important niche within the aviation industry. The Lincolnshire hub is a popular destination for helicopters arriving from North Sea oil-and-gas platforms. Humberside is also a base for a number of hobby groups and aircraft clubs, due to the airport’s low landing fees.

In 2006, Humberside lost 100,000 annual passengers in an instant, when Ryanair pulled the plug on its daily route to Dublin from the airport. The blue-and-yellow carrier blamed poor ticket sales for the decision. Years later, bosses at the Kirmington hub are hailing the return of the prodigal airline as a “foundation” to develop Humberside into a major regional airport.

However, Ryanair is not the first airline to offer a route to Alicante from Humberside. XL Airways UK operated a service to the Spanish resort until 2008, when the stricken airline went bust. Alicante had been one of Humberside’s most popular routes due to its proximity to the tourist town of Benidorm on the Mediterranean coast.

Travel agents in the nearby towns of Scunthorpe and Grimsby harbour no ill feelings towards Ryanair, according to local newspaper This is Grimsby, despite the airline’s sudden departure from Humberside in 2006. The carrier’s new route to Alicante has been described as “useful” and “fantastic” by people in the travel industry.

Flights from Humberside to the Spanish city will operate throughout the summer season, departing every Tuesday and Saturday at 1130. Ryanair will operate Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the route.

Humberside plans ‘temporary hotel’

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:30:10 BST

Oilrig workers are passing through Humberside heliport in such great abundance that a planning application for a new hotel has been drafted by airport bosses.

The hotel, which will be built near the North Lincolnshire airport, will be erected as a temporary structure for the first five years, providing that the council first approves the paperwork.

Humberside is one of the smallest international airports in the UK, offering just a handful of flights to continental destinations. The Lincolnshire site competes directly with Robin Hood, East Midlands, and Leeds Bradford for local travellers, but Humberside’s resident heliport has helped the airport carve out a niche for itself.

Director at the Kirmington site, Tony Lavan, noted that interest in oil and gas exploration was booming, and with it, the popularity of Humberside Airport. The proposed hotel will help cement the airport’s position as a friend to North Sea platform workers, and create around thirty new jobs in the Humberside area.

‘Humberside has a diverse business offering, which not only consists of scheduled and package holiday flights, but also a successful offshore business as well' Mr. Lavan explained. 'We are delighted these industries will soon benefit from a dedicated on-site hotel.’ The new building will also feature a restaurant and conference room.

Bosses will end the hotel’s temporary phase in 2015. Then, if visitor numbers have proved satisfactory, the development will be turned into a permanent fixture. The 100-room hotel will be built on brown belt land close to the A18.

Sun and sea for Humberside

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:31:11 GMT

Humberside Airport is the proud owner of a new route to Malaga in Spain, courtesy of budget airline, Flybe. The flight will be available from the 29th May, and remains on the airport’s roster until the 11th September 2010.

Pablo Picasso Airport is the most important transport hub in the Malaga and Costa del Sol region, handling well over 12m passengers a year. It’s also the main point of arrival for British tourists, but not a single passenger has ever arrived direct from Humberside.

Malaga is Flybe’s second route from the Lincolnshire airport, following on from a successful flight to Jersey, and the first time that Humberside has been connected to the wider area of the Andalucían coast.

A hi-tech Embraer plane will manage the route, which will operate every Saturday. The plane carries a good forty people more than the Bombardier jets in Flybe’s normal fleet, seating a maximum of 118 people per trip.

Flybe chief, Mike Rutter, is encouraging travellers to book their flights while the British streets are still frozen – “With people wanting their budgets to go as far as possible, it’s advisable to book early to take advantage of the lowest possible fares.” Seats are currently on sale for £44.99, one way.

Humberside was one of the few airports left unaffected by the weather this week, but with more snow and ice forecast over the weekend, travellers should be wary of changes to airport schedules. Please contact your airline before departing.

Record boost for Humberside Airport

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:03:10 BST

Humberside Airport is claiming a record-breaking summer, after passenger numbers jumped a full 30% over figures for May-August 2008.

Located in the town of Kirmington, North Lincolnshire, Humberside Airport is a modest facility, handling around half a million passengers a year.

The site enjoys the attentions of a number of private aircraft clubs, but it is otherwise an international airport, offering flights to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and Dalaman in Turkey as well as a domestic service to Aberdeen.

Officials were delighted with the news, which comes at a time when Humberside’s closest geographical rival, Robin Hood Airport, is experiencing heavy losses - Doncaster’s maiden facility lost a full 30% of its annual passengers in just a few months.

Airport officials cited over fifty years of staff experience for the boost. Amanda George, business manager at Humberside, revealed the secrets of the airport’s success:

“Our staff have visited more than 50 destinations. We can go that extra mile for our customers by providing them with an insight into the places that they might want to visit."

Despite the gnawing of the credit monster, Humberside is one of only a handful of UK airports to have gained passengers over the last year. The Lincolnshire economy fared badly, however, and councillors are pinning their hopes on the airport’s continuing success.

With the package holiday industry in decline, adventurous Brits are opting for local holidays, or ‘stay-cations’ to save valuable pennies. Routes to the near continent continue to prove lucrative for budget airlines.

Humberside’s predominantly European routes have been a boon to tourists, as travel agents begin to fill their windows with late summer deals.

Police base at Humberside

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:50:01 BST

Work on a new helicopter support unit for Humberside Police began at Humberside airport in June.
The base is designed to allow police helicopters to access the surrounding area of Humberside quickly and easily, and it is hoped that this will assist the police greatly. Being situated on the airport means that the police have easy access to support from airport technical and security staff, as well as the on-site fire service.
You can get up-to-date and in-depth news on Humberside airport by visiting the Humberside airport news pages.

New destinations at Humberside

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:48:17 BST

Excel Airways have announced the commencement of a large number of new destinations from Humberside Airport in May 2006.
The new destinations, aimed at the summer sun market, include Rhodes, Paphos, Lanzarote, Alicante, Tenerife, Dalaman, Algarve, Majorca and Malaga.