The sight of a Fokker 50 operating between Antwerp and London City airports is once again a reality following the introduction of a new service by recently-formed Air Antwerp.
The investment of more than £1 billion will double the capacity at the terminal over the next three years. The airline is offering 16 flights a week between the two cities – three return flights on weekdays plus a Sunday evening service.
Air Antwerp and KLM have a codeshare agreement on this route as there is significant interest from the Netherlands for the new business route. Tickets can therefore be purchased via each airline’s website.
Johan Maertens, CEO of Air Antwerp, joined Peter Downes, aviation director at London City Airport, for a special ceremony at LCY to celebrate the first departure. “In the past few months, a small team has worked extremely hard to obtain the Air Operator Certificate. Exactly one month ago – a bit faster than we had expected – our AOC landed in my mailbox,” Maertens remarked. “Since then it has been all hands on deck to have commercial and operational details ready.
“I thank our employees, suppliers and partners for the hard work they have accomplished. Also a sincere thank you to our shareholders, CityJet and KLM, for the confidence they gave us to make this venture possible. Last but not least, thanks to our customers for the enthusiastic responses and encouragements we have received via email and social media. The important Antwerp–London City route is back and it’s generating wide interest,” Maertens declared.