Southampton Airport has today secured a brand new daily service to and from Hamburg, connecting these two important business centres for the first time. The route will start in October 2014 with Flybe. Business experts in the region have warmly welcomed the addition to Southampton Airport’s offering.
Stewart Dunn, Chief Executive of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Hampshire Chamber of Commerce welcomes the new route from Southampton to Hamburg. From a business viewpoint, there is synergy between the two cities with the aerospace and marine connections, which are both LEP Sector priorities; and from a leisure point of view the city will be ideal for weekend breaks.”
Rory Pereira, Deputy Director for UK Trade & Investment South East, added: “Germany is the South East region’s second biggest export market after the USA. The South East’s exports to Germany in the year ending March 2014 totalled £4.17 billion. Situated in the heart of Europe, Germany provides instant access to both established markets in Western Europe as well as emerging markets in central and Eastern Europe. With English widely spoken, Germany is an ideal location for South East businesses wanting to expand their operations overseas. Given that it now takes just one hour to fly there from Southampton Airport, I encourage businesses across the region to explore what the market has to offer by speaking to one of our expert international trade advisers”
Sally Lynskey, CEO of Business South, also welcomed the news about the new Hamburg route, saying: „Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and a major economic hub in mainland Europe. We welcome the news about this new route and the opportunity it provides to build greater connections between the two port cities of Southampton and Hamburg. It strengthens the offering of flights from Southampton Airport and helps our region to be recognised as a well-connected place to do business.”
Councillor Seán Woodward, Hampshire County Council’s Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment, added: “This is great news. There are strong similarities between the Solent region and Hamburg, Germany’s second largest city and Europe’s second largest sea port. The Hamburg region has specific strengths in both the aerospace and marine sectors, and is one of Germany’s top three industrial locations. Greater connectivity between our respective business communities and groupings of particular business activity can only help in developing a stronger Solent economy, whether through access to new clients, new supply chains or collaborative innovation.”
Kim Yeomans, Operations Manager of Farnborough Aerospace Consortium, said: “There has been a demand for low fare flights to key European destinations within the South East at convenient times for business travellers within the aerospace industry for quite a while. Southampton Airport is not only convenient for onward travel but is a stress free experience. This new route from Southampton to Hamburg will be very welcomed.”
The new service is ideally timed in the evening, so business travellers can be ready for a full day’s work in northern Germany. Within Southampton Airport’s catchment area there are more than 27,000 jobs in the marine sector in over 1,300 businesses. The defence and aerospace sector in the area employs around 18,000 people and has more than 300 businesses. This new service is likely to beneficial to many of these organisations.
Source / Author: Southampton Airport
Photo: Southampton Airport