Improved North South Wales air service extended until 2018

Improved scheduling and more flexible ticket options will be available on the North South Wales air service with the award of a new contract to UK regional airline, LinksAir, announced by Transport Minister Edwina Hart today (Tuesday, 11 November).

LinksAir will continue to operate two daily return flights but at new times to allow for a longer working day at both destinations. The new contract will run from 10 December this year until 9 December 2018.

Mrs Hart said: “I am committed to improving business connectivity throughout Wales to promote economic growth. This service does that and creates more tourism opportunities by greatly reducing journey times between north-west Wales and Cardiff. I am also pleased that we have managed to reduce the cost to the taxpayer on this contract.

Our research shows that the majority of passengers are using the service for business and they use it because it saves time. We have responded to their feedback by providing a later return flight in this new contract to allow more time for business. The service has also proved popular for leisure and tourism and I hope the new flexible ticket options will encourage more of these passengers.”

LinksAir will also connect the service with new commercial routes in spring 2015 and will deliver a new marketing campaign to increase passengers on this vital economic Wales air link.

Initially there will be 0740 & 1625 departures from Cardiff on Monday to Thursday, and 0740 & 1525 on Fridays. The return service will leave Anglesey at 0855 and 1740 on weekdays (1640 on Fridays).

The introduction of an earlier 0725 Cardiff departure in spring 2015, combined with the later afternoon departure will off an extra 35-minutes a day at each destination.

Linksair Commercial Manager, Roger Hage, added “We at Linksair are delighted to have been appointed by the Welsh Government to both operate and sell this vital economic Wales air link. With a combination of low fares, flexibility in booking, quality service and new routes in the new year we aim to improve the Cardiff to Anglesey service with its Island Energy and leisure importance. We are delighted to be adding to local employment of crews, engineering, route coordinator, reservations and customer service staff in the coming weeks, all supporting the value of this service to the Wales economy.”

The North South Wales air service was established in 2007. Linksair have been the aircraft operator on behalf of Citywing for the past two years, so the same 19-seater BAe Jetstream 31 plane will be used on the route.

The new ticketing system will see fares available from £19.00 one-way, with baggage charges of just £5.00 and the option to change flights.

Flights can be booked from today at www.linksair.com, by phone on 0844 8002411 or via your local travel agent later this week.