Spain flights plan axed

AN airline has cancelled a planned new service from Birmingham International Airport to Barcelona and Madrid. Click the headline or link below to read the rest of this story. Spanair had planned to begin flights up to four times a week from May 20 but the airport yesterday said this was not going ahead. It would have introduced flights to the Spanish resorts from the airport, the only destination outside of London and the North West. Bosses hailed the announcement in March and said it ‘certainly demonstrates that the industry has confidence in Birmingham’. Yesterday the airport said in a statement: “While we are disappointed with Spanair’s decision to suspend their planned services to Barcelona and Madrid, we are mindful of the tough economic conditions affecting the industry and the need for airlines to review their operations accordingly. “We still believe that these two routes are attractive to Midlands’ travellers and as we continue to talk to a range of carriers, we are hopeful that alternative airlines will decide to tap-into that vast potential. “Madrid, in particular, is an under-served destination for local passengers with no direct service south of Liverpool or north of the Watford Gap.” It said the new Government’s abandoning of a third runway for Heathrow underlined the need for a controversial expansion of the Midlands airport. What do you think? Leave your comments below. No registration required.

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