Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield celebrates first anniversary with Thomsonfly.com
28.04.2006
- 750,000 Thomsonfly passengers in the airport’s first year
- Thomsonfly now offers 31 destinations
- Long haul flights to commence on May 5
As the UK’s first new commercial airport to open since Stansted in 1966, the success at Doncaster further demonstrates the increased demand for air travel from regional airports. Entering its second summer, Thomsonfly will offer 31 routes from Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield starting from only £16.99 and 5 May will see the first ever long haul flights from the airport to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, and in the few days after to Cancun in Mexico and Orlando, Florida. Prices to the Dominican Republic start from just £89.99 one-way including taxes and charges.
Of the 750,000 passengers flying with Thomsonfly since April 2005, the attraction of Spain’s sun and sand has Malaga in top spot, followed by Alicante, Faro, Prague and then Jersey.
Last summer Thomsonfly flew to Palma, Faro, Alicante, Malaga, Pisa, Prague, Paris, Dublin, Ibiza, Valencia and Jersey. Lyon was added for access to winter sports destinations and Gran Canaria and Tenerife for winter sun; also added was Amsterdam which provided a connection to a vast scope of destinations through this major European hub.
The majority of Thomsonfly passengers are travelling on holiday, 71% of passengers, demonstrating how the new flight services are used for pleasure and the all important annual family holiday. The largest group of people using the flights are couples - 59% of passengers.
The new flight services have made it possible for people to visit friends and relatives demonstrated by the fact that 17% of people stay with friends and family during their trip. Half of all passengers stay in hotels for the duration of their stay abroad, however the fact that 20% of existing customers stay in their own accommodation overseas – demonstrates the increasing trend of second home ownership abroad.
Maria Heckel, marketing director for Thomsonfly, said; “The introduction of our Doncaster flights have enabled more and more people living within the region to fly affordably to destinations within the UK and all over Europe. Of the 750,000 passengers that have flown with Thomsonfly since the launch last year, 68% have been residents from the region.”
Results from Thomsonfly’s Customer Satisfaction Questionnaires demonstrate Thomsonfly is proving successful in its model of low fares flights with quality customer service. 80 per cent of Doncaster customers rated the airline’s cabin crew as good or excellent for friendliness and customer care. The popularity of the airport is demonstrated in positive feedback from the airline’s customers, with 75 per cent of people rating the airport highly.
The success of Doncaster routes has contributed to the overall growth of Thomsonfly since the airline began its operations in Coventry two years ago. Firmly established as the third largest UK based airline, Thomsonfly now flies from more UK airports than any other UK based carrier – to 80 destinations worldwide from 24 UK airports.
As a special offer to celebrate the anniversary, Thomsonfly is giving away a plane’s worth of seats from Doncaster to European destinations for just 1p including taxes and charges, bookable online from 9am on Friday 28 April*.
Flights can be booked online and our travel extras section enables customers to book hotels, villas, car hire and foreign exchange online, at the same time as purchasing flights.
