Irish now have direct flights to Orlando
From BelfastToday. July 28/06
Florida scheduled in for Ulster fliers
Northern Ireland’s first scheduled air service to Florida will start later this year, it was announced yesterday.
Flyglobespan, one of Britain’s fastest-growing airlines, will begin the new weekly service between Belfast International Airport and Orlando Sanford on November 7. This will be the first Belfast route from the web-based airline, which already operates flights from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Aberdeen, Durham Tees Valley and London Stansted. The company offers a range of short-haul routes to Europe’s traditional holiday resorts, but recently moved into the long-haul market and introduced the UK’s first-ever direct daily budget flights to Florida by launching daily flights between Glasgow and Orlando last month. Flyglobespan’s parent company, the Globespan Group, has been operating transatlantic flights for over 30 years. Chairman Tom Dalrymple said the excellent response to the Glasgow service offered an opportunity to run a Belfast flight once a week and test the flyglobespan model in a new market. “If it works as well in Belfast as it has across the rest of the UK, then I am sure we will be back for more,” he said.
“Our Glasgow – Orlando prices are proving very popular with Americans who want to come to Scotland and I am sure the Northern Ireland tourist board will benefit when the Belfast route begins.” Later this year, Flyglobespan will start a Manchester to Cape Town service and will also be flying daily from Liverpool to New York (Newark) from next May, with more transatlantic activity promised soon.
The company will use a Boeing 767-300 on the Belfast to Orlando route, which operates all year round, offering three grades of travel. Return fares in economy class will start at around £300 including taxes, while in premier economy they will begin at £418 and in business class at £800.
As with all their services, the flyglobespan website (www. flyglobespan. com) offers travellers the option of adding accommodation and car hire. John Doran, managing director of Belfast International Airport, said: “It is noteworthy that this will be the first ever direct service from Belfast to Florida during the winter months, and our first direct scheduled service throughout the year.”