Regional Airline of the Year Eastern Airways is expanding its scheduled services to Manchester and Birmingham from Inverness by introducing Saturday flights from later this month.

The additional Saturday service, which commences this weekend (18^th November), is designed to open up both English destinations to the leisure market through increased options for those taking city breaks, shopping trips or onward travel.

Inbound flights to Inverness will assist in attracting increased tourism traffic to the Highlands and make the region more accessible to those wishing to visit the many sites in the area.

Graeme Ross, Scotland director for Eastern Airways, said: “In terms of inbound traffic Inverness is proving increasingly popular with tourists wishing to enjoy the multitude of attractions in the region. As the profile of the Highlands expands so does the infrastructural needs and our increased services will go some way towards facilitating the inbound travel of tourists.

“Manchester and Birmingham both have a great deal to offer to the leisure market and are excellent cities to stay, shop and explore and we are confident they will prove an attractive proposition to the people of the Highlands and in the short term, there is the added attraction of the likes of the Trafford Centre as a Christmas shopping destination.”

Timings for the Saturday flights are:

Inverness to Manchester – departing 0730 arriving 0855

Manchester to Inverness – departing 0925 arriving 1100

Inverness to Birmingham – departing 1130 arriving 1310

Birmingham to Inverness – departing 1340 arriving 1520

Online fares for both services start at £99 return (www.easternairways.com), including taxes and charges.