MP welcomes return of Aberdeen - Gatwick link
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Flights between Aberdeen and London Gatwick Airport are set to resume in 2021 following a two-year effort to reinstate the service.
Budget airline easyJet confirmed it was to relaunch the service year-round from May 2.
More than 66,000 seats are already on sale for the daily flights, starting from £22.99 one-way.
Luton-based easyJet said the service would provide “even more direct connectivity” between the north-east and London.
Easy Jet announced at the end of November 2018 that it was quitting the route, due to a reduction in demand, from February last year leaving the north-east without a direct link to London’s second- largest airport.
MP for Banff and Buchan David Duguid said: "This is fantastic news. I have campaigned strongly for the reinstatement of this route since easyJet took the decision to stop services between Aberdeen and Gatwick in February last year.
"Thousands of people signed a petition calling for these flights to be brought back and will be very pleased to hear the route will start up again next year.
"Gatwick is a major hub for connections to long-haul flights around the world, as well as being a popular destination for business travellers heading to London from Aberdeen."
Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce chief executive Russell Borthwick said: “The economy of this region has always been very internationally focused.
“The key sectors that we have and the export strengths that we possess even down to our ambitions to be a £1 billion tourism economy in the next few years are all dependent on the fact that our geographic location isn’t a barrier.
“Transport and our connectivity across a whole range of interventions, from more frequent flights to London like the one offered by easyJet and to other key hubs, as well as some action at last towards delivering on sub-two-hour rail connections to Aberdeen from Glasgow and Edinburgh, are going to be a key part of this region’s economic recovery.”
Derek Pro van, chief executive of AGS Airports, which owns Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports, said: “We are in constant discussions with our airline partners to ensure we can support them with their plans throughout this pandemic.
“It is, therefore, great to see easyJet reinstate the popular Gatwick route at Aberdeen International Airport.
“Bringing back business safely is a key priority at our airports and Gatwick will help strengthen Aberdeen’s connectivity with London.”
