Angouleme airport news Flights to Gatwick and Stansted

[Boiling a frog]

Flights commence Spring 2008 Rynair to Stansted    and GB airways to Gatwick

Ryanair 3 times a week GB airways daily

Only for 30 weeks a year

Easyjet also interested and a new low cost French airline

[Hotspur]

This is what has appeared in the Charente Libre (English Edition).  Lets hope it's more accurate than their weather forecasts!

"It may soon be possible to buy an air ticket from Angoulême to major world cities. Authorities at the Brie-Champniers airport near the Charente capital have, as expected, formally revealed that Ryanair will be operating flights from Stansted Airport from spring 2008. Less expected, however, was the news that GB Airways – who operate as a franchise of British Airways – will also be providing a service to and from Angoulême. GB Airways fly from Gatwick, which means that in theory passengers will one day be able to buy a ticket from the Charente to any one of up to 600 worldwide destinations, checking in their baggage just once at Angoulême. Despite the formal announcement by the authorities in the Charente, negotiations are still continuing on some of the details and planned services could change between now and the opening date next spring. As it stands, both Ryanair and GB Airways will be only be operating services for the busiest parts of the year. Ryanair will be providing three flights a week to and from Stansted, using a Boeing 737 with a capacity of 189 passengers. This will operate for 30 weeks of the year. GB Airways is set to use an Airbus A 320 – capable of carrying 162 passengers – for daily flights for 27 weeks a year.

 

The Chambre d'industrie et de commerce d'Angoulême (CCI) is still trying to persuade GB Airways to operate some flights a week all year round

The department council’s president Michel Boutant welcomed the announcements. ‘It is very good news for the Charente,’ he said. However, he was also cautious, given that negotiations are still continuing. ‘I want to see the first plane fly,’ he added. The department president said he was very surprised at the level of interest shown by airlines in flying to the airport, an interest that grew when they realised it was to be re-branded Angoulême-Cognac airport. ‘The name Cognac gets a reaction,’ said Michel Boutant. There had also been expressions of interest from EasyJet and from a new French start-up airline called Odeseus. Daniel Braud, president of the CCI, said Ryaniar and GB Airways represented a good choice of airlines which would allow people to fly anywhere in the world from Angoulême and would benefit tourism as much as business. ‘It’s a crucial moment in the development of the department,’ he said. Daniel Braud knows there will be tough negotiations ahead, noticeably with local bodies and groups who will be asked to pay for some of the ‘marketing’ costs of the new airlines. However for the moment he prefers to focus on the positive. ‘Soon with just one ticket we'll be able to go from Angoulême to New York…’ he noted."