Cityjet will discontinue flights between Antwerp and London City at the end of October. Since 1993 the two cities are linked with a direct flight, first VLM Airlines then Cityjet. The airport hopes to restart the route with another airline.
The airline currently operates 17 weekly rotations with an ATR 42-500 operated by Danish Air Transport (DAT).
The flights from Antwerp to London City started in 1993 with VLM, up to 7 or 8 daily flights. CityJet started the route in 2008. It is one of the routes the airline offers to the iconic London City Airport in the center of the British capital. Axing the popular route is a big blow for Antwerp Airport: between 35,000 and 40,000 annual passengers.
Strange that last May Cityjet celebrated the 500.000th passenger between Antwerp and London City, yet today a Cityjet spokesman confirmed the news: “We are to close the route between Antwerp and London City Airport with effect from October 27th next. The decision follows a review of the service in the context of route performance and operational efficiency.”
Press agency Belga talked with Marcel Buelens, the airport CEO: “After the VLM bankruptcy Cityjet was forced to lease a more expensive aircraft. Less passengers traveled to London City hence Cityjet decided to discontinue the flights. We are talking with two interested airlines to restart the route at the end of October, in two weeks time we hope to have news.”
Forum discussion: http://www.luchtzak.be/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=60707&start=100
Damn, is @cityjet cancelling their @AntwerpAirport route from the end of the summer season (October 27th)? /@LuchtzakBelgium pic.twitter.com/nvkrHRR03Z
— Raphael Cockx (@raphaelcockx) September 1, 2017
Note: featured image is not an ATR, but a Bae146 and used as exemplary image.
