Accura4Matalan
July 21st, 2005, 09:13 PM
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Airport set for facelift as passenger rate rises
Lancashire's only commercial airport is set for a multi-million pound facelift as it looks to expand the range of destinations available to local travellers.
Blackpool Airport is to reconfigure its Squires Gate terminal to cope with the 1.5 million passengers it expects to welcome this year, and there are plans to expand even further with three million sun-seekers expected to be arrive next year.
Work has already started at the airport and it is hoped it will be completed by November when cut-price airline Monarch Scheduled starts its daily service from Blackpool to Malaga. Officials from owners City Hopper and Monarch were at the Fylde airport yesterday to announce the new service and it is hoped their commitment to Lancashire will attract more top operators to fly out of Blackpool.
City Hopper chairman Paul Whelan said: "There are three million people within an hour's drive of Blackpool and six million in central Lancashire alone and our principal objective in the 12 months we have been running the airport at Blackpool has been to open up new travel opportunities to them. Two years ago we were getting 70,000 people through the airport every year, this year we have had 700,000 and we hope that will have risen to 1.2 million by the end of this year, so that shows you something of the potential of Blackpool.
"Monarch has shown its confidence and commitment to us and we will be working alongside them to make this partnership a fruitful one.
"Work has already begun on the reconfiguration of the terminal and will see a lot of the space currently operating as offices redesigned to provide facilities. We do not need so many offices in the airport, but we need to provide a more enjoyable stay for passengers."
Monarch provides services to holiday destinations in the western Mediterranean including Barcelona and Lisbon.
21 July 2005
Airport set for facelift as passenger rate rises
Lancashire's only commercial airport is set for a multi-million pound facelift as it looks to expand the range of destinations available to local travellers.
Blackpool Airport is to reconfigure its Squires Gate terminal to cope with the 1.5 million passengers it expects to welcome this year, and there are plans to expand even further with three million sun-seekers expected to be arrive next year.
Work has already started at the airport and it is hoped it will be completed by November when cut-price airline Monarch Scheduled starts its daily service from Blackpool to Malaga. Officials from owners City Hopper and Monarch were at the Fylde airport yesterday to announce the new service and it is hoped their commitment to Lancashire will attract more top operators to fly out of Blackpool.
City Hopper chairman Paul Whelan said: "There are three million people within an hour's drive of Blackpool and six million in central Lancashire alone and our principal objective in the 12 months we have been running the airport at Blackpool has been to open up new travel opportunities to them. Two years ago we were getting 70,000 people through the airport every year, this year we have had 700,000 and we hope that will have risen to 1.2 million by the end of this year, so that shows you something of the potential of Blackpool.
"Monarch has shown its confidence and commitment to us and we will be working alongside them to make this partnership a fruitful one.
"Work has already begun on the reconfiguration of the terminal and will see a lot of the space currently operating as offices redesigned to provide facilities. We do not need so many offices in the airport, but we need to provide a more enjoyable stay for passengers."
Monarch provides services to holiday destinations in the western Mediterranean including Barcelona and Lisbon.
21 July 2005