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Hans J Marter
17 November, 2005
FAROESE airline Atlantic Airways has promised to fly from Shetland to London all
year round if islanders turn out in support of the new air link.
Last week the company announced a 10 week summer service for next year between
Vagar Airport, in Faroe, to Sumburgh and on to London Standsted.
Yesterday (Wednesday), the company's sales and marketing manager Kent
Christensen said the company's vision was to "to fly here all year round".
With a distance of 555 miles, the Sumburgh - Stansted route will be the longest
domestic scheduled air link in the UK.
"This is a beginning and only a beginning", he said, emphasising that the new
service would start even before the £10 million runway upgrade at Sumburgh
Airport was completed.
Mr Christensen is in Shetland this week to speak to local travel agents, the
tourism industry and the local authority.
He said the new air service was far more than just a link for Shetlanders to
London. It would also give islanders access to the whole Atlantic Airways
network with scheduled flights from Vagar Airport to Copenhagen, Aalborg,
Billund, in Demark; as well as Oslo and Stavanger, in Norway, and Reykjavik,
Iceland.
"We are the one company in the North Atlantic that is connecting all these
destinations. We are flying over Shetland every single day. It is only a natural
progression to start landing here as well," Mr Christensen said.
"However, we want to do it the right way. When we started our service to London
four years ago it was only a seven weeks service during the Faroese summer
holidays. Now it is a 26 week service between April and November, and we will
extend the service to whatever need there is.
"If we are getting the support from Shetlanders then, I think, we will be able
to put down another leg in the area," he said.
The new service will operate initially between 23 June and 4 September, 2006.
The airline will operate a 90 seat BAe 146 jet aircraft on Mondays and Fridays.
Prices for a flight to London will start at £109 plus taxes for a return ticket.
The most expensive ticket would be a one way ticket for £201, a third cheaper
than British Airways charge for a one way ticket between London and Sumburgh.
Booking is now possible at
www.flyshetland.com
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