Airport officials concerned over future of Spanish routes

Airport executives have said that it will be quite difficult for Norwich Airport to recover if LTE is not able to resume operations.

Norwich International Airport has seen a major surge in passenger traffic and activity in the past few months, largely due to LTE deciding to base its flights to Spain at the facility this past July.

There is now uncertainty about the carrier’s future, after it cancelled all flights late last week, and airport officials are saying that it will be difficult to replace the traffic created by the Spanish routes if the airline fails.

This would be a major blow for the airport, and for the city, as the facility is seen by council leaders as a main economic driver for Norwich.

Over the year so far, Norwich has lost numerous flights, with Flybe cancelling Paris and Glasgow flights, reduced the frequency of service to Guernsey and discontinued flights to Exeter until next summer.

In addition, Goldtrail Holidays cancelled flights to Bodrum and Dalaman, in Turkey, and Thomson cut its Canary Islands flights to Gran Canaria and Tenerife for the coming winter season.

Passenger traffic has dropped by 11 per cent over the past year, which constitutes the largest decline for any regional airport. The government’s decision to approve expansion at Stansted was a further blow to Norwich.

In September, Mike Rutter, Flybe’s COO, reported that his carrier was finding it difficult to attract customers to the Norwich Airport because of the impact on Stansted.

www.norwichairport.co.uk