Aer Arann announced its continued allegiance with regional airports in the face of massive congestion and proposed expansion at Heathrow Airport. Research released by the Liberal Democrats in last August revealed a 36% increase in delays at Heathrow over the last 10 years, which may justify such expansion. Aer Arann, as a regional carrier, says why suffer such delays when regional airports provide the quality service travellers deserve.

Using regional airports cuts down on unnecessary road and rail journeys, with 6 per cent of Heathrow’s traffic originating in the South West, travellers could reduce congestion both on the roads, trains and in the airport by using airports such as Cardiff, Southampton, and Birmingham instead.

Regional airports are often overlooked due to the impression that they are underserviced, and offer fewer facilities than airports such as Heathrow, however this is not the case. Increased destination choice means that travellers can now fly to destinations as diverse as Toronto, Vancouver, as well local favourites such as Paris, Barcelona and Amsterdam.

Colin Lewis, Head of Sales and Marketing at Aer Arann, explains: “Regional airports provide quality service on your doorstep and there is no reason for travellers to put themselves through the unnecessary stress that is associated with capital city airports. Furthermore, regional airports have shorter taxiing distances which reduces fuel burn and carbon footprints. Using your local airport redistributes the money spent on travelling to your local area thereby benefiting the local community.”

Peter Philips, Head of Marketing at Cardiff International Airport, said: “Regional airports are growing faster than their London counterparts, and now handle 42 per cent of all air traffic in the UK. Destination is the key driver - you can fly direct to over 60 direct destinations, and over 400 Worldwide connecting flights from Cardiff International, and by continuing to offer new routes we can cut out hundreds of thousands of unnecessary journeys along the busy M4 corridor.”