TUI Airways operating UK’s only direct flights to Langkawi
Above: Tom Screen, Acting Aviation Director at Birmingham Airport and Stephanie Harvet, Product Manager at TUI.
The flights are flying cruisers to the Langkawi homeport, forming part of Marella Cruises’ new Asia programme.
Birmingham Airport celebrated the milestone with cake and gifts for customers boarding the new servicet. The Boeing 787 then took off for Langkawi with excited cruisers onboard.
Marella Cruises is the only cruise line to operate cruise-only flights on its own exclusive airline, providing customers with a seamless end-to-end customer experience. Flying from regional airports, the third largest cruise line in the UK gives customers the opportunity to travel from the airport most convenient for them.
The brand new TUI Airways flights to Langkawi will make it relaxing and stress-free for local customers to start their holiday, before enjoying fantastic, adult-only itineraries onboard Marella Discovery.
Managing Director of Marella Cruises Chris Hackney said: “We’re really excited to be launching inaugural flights from the UK to Langkawi in Malaysia. We’re always looking at ways we can offer our customers even more flexibility and choice when it comes to choosing a cruise and the TUI Airways flights mark the next step in our continued effort to give our customers the best holiday experience.
As part of our new Asia programme, our itineraries from Langkawi offer customers amazing destinations to some of the most sought out corners of the world, all alongside nothing but the best service onboard our ships with the friendliest staff at sea.”
Tom Screen Acting Aviation Director at Birmingham Airport commented: “To have the UK’s first ever direct flight to Langkawi operate from Birmingham Airport is just fantastic. Creating varied packages is key to providing our customers with ease of travel. A package like this allows our customers to experience a range of exotic climates and cultures across multiple destinations, all in one trip.
“To celebrate the momentous occasion, employees from both the Airport and TUI gathered at the departure gates, along with passengers due to board the flight. The atmosphere was great – every seat was filled.
“The cruise-only flight will be operating fortnightly until the end of March 2019. We hope all passengers enjoy this fantastic cruise experience on its very own exclusive airline.”
Birmingham Airport is the UK’s third largest airport outside London, and the UK’s seventh largest overall.
It handles c13m passengers a year and c35m people live within its two-hour catchment – half the population of the UK.
As the Midlands’ largest airport, it serves more than 150 direct scheduled and charter routes and offers an additional 340 possible connections worldwide.
Over the last 10 years, Birmingham Airport has invested more than £300m to develop its infrastructure. It is one of the West Midlands’ largest employers, creating jobs for 30,900 people across the West Midlands and adding £1.5bn in GVA to the regional economy. Sitting in the centre of the country’s road and rail network means that it is one of the UK’s most accessible airports.
When HS2 opens, the rail journey between Birmingham Airport and central London will reduce from the current 70 minutes to 38 minutes as it becomes the UK’s first and only high-speed connected airport, increasing the two-hour catchment to 45 million people.
The Airport is currently consulting on its draft Master Plan which outlines how the airport will invest £500m over the next 15 years, growing to serve 18m passengers a year, generating £2.1 billion to the regional economy annually and supporting 34,000 jobs by 2033.
In 2018, Birmingham Airport was awarded the Best UK Airport for airports above 10 million passengers a year by the Airport Operators Association, and was also ranked second behind only Heathrow Terminal 5 in the Which? report on large UK airports. Netflights.com also awarded Birmingham Airport the most family friendly airport in the UK and Ireland.
