Highlands and Islands Airports Limited today (Thursday 15 December) welcomed the decision by Eastern Airways to increase the capacity on the routes with the introduction of larger aircraft at the end of February – providing almost 1,000 extra seats per week.

The airline will operate a 50-seat Saab 2000 aircraft on the Manchester route and a 29-seat Jetstream 41 aircraft on the Birmingham route from the end of February, increasing seat capacity by 65% compared to when the routes originally started.

This will mean that more than 2,500 seats are available every week between the capital of the Highlands and two of the UK’s most important business regions.

Eastern operates three return flights a day on both routes Monday to Friday and a single rotation on Sundays. The routes are currently operated with a combination of 29-seat Jetstream 41 and 19-seat Jetstream 31 aircraft.

This is the second enhancement to the routes, following the introduction of J41 aircraft at Inverness in June of this year.

Eastern launched the Manchester service in November 2002 and the Birmingham service in October 2003.

Inglis Lyon, managing director of HIAL said: “We are delighted to see continued development on these two important UK regional routes from Inverness. We have an excellent working relationship with Eastern and this is a good example of how routes can de introduced and grown over a relatively short period of time.

“Both routes offer important business connections and allow high value tourist visitors to come into the region. Highland travellers can also access a wide range of onward domestic and international flights via the airports at Birmingham and Manchester.”

Graeme Ross, Eastern Airways’ Scotland director said: “We are continuing to strengthen the cross-border air links from the Highlands to UK regions and are able to do this because of increasing passenger demand. The additional seating capacity on these routes will allow many more people to enjoy the convenience of air travel between Inverness, Birmingham and Manchester.”

For flight information and booking visit the www.easternairways.com website.