Air South West

Air Southwest Limited is a British airline headquartered in Plymouth, Devon, England. It operates regional scheduled passenger services from the south west of England. Its main base is Plymouth City Airport, with hubs at Bristol International Airport and Newquay Cornwall Airport. The airline is a wholly owned subsidiary of Plymouth-based regeneration and transport group Sutton Harbour Holdings Plc, which also owns and operates Plymouth City Airport. The airline employs 150 people and is headed by Managing Director Peter Davies and Deputy Chief Executive Mike Coombes.

The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.

History

Launch

Air South West Limited was incorporated in the United Kingdom on 15 January 2003 as Placedean Technology Limited, changed its name to Mid South Aviation on the 27 March 2003 and then to Air Southwest Limited on 3 June 2003 .

Air Southwest was established in May 2003 to fill the void left by the withdrawal of British Airways from the southwest of England. Operations began on 26 October 2003 , the day after British Airways withdrew from the market, with the Plymouth-Newquay-London Gatwick route. This was soon followed by the introduction of the Plymouth-Bristol-Manchester route which was later extended to Jersey.

Expansion

On 11 April 2005 the company established a new hub at Newquay, with direct flights to Dublin and flights to Leeds-Bradford via Bristol. At the same time, the airline added a crew base at Newquay, with five cabin crew, ten pilots, and one aircraft.

In April 2006 Air Southwest launched services from Newquay to Manchester via Cardiff, and from Bristol to Norwich (although the airline withdrew from this route in January 2007); in addition a crew and aircraft base was established at Bristol. On 30 October 2006 the airline introduced a fifth daily flight from Newquay to London.

The airline uses the low fares, web-based format for bookings with over 90% of all bookings made online. In its first eighteen months of operations Air Southwest carried over 200,000 passengers, increasing the number of passengers flying between Plymouth and Newquay and London Gatwick by 22%. On 25 October 2006 , the airline announced that it had carried 750,000 passengers since its launch.

The Bristol to Norwich service ended on 14 January 2007 , the airline's first route discontinuation since inception in 2003. Further consolidated was made with the discontinuation of the direct Newquay to Leeds-Bradford service which was routed via Bristol Airport from 16 January 2007 , and an increased frequency on the Plymouth to Manchester service to twice daily, via Bristol, from 15 January 2007 .

On 24 June 2007 Air Southwest operated its last flights from Cardiff to Newquay and Manchester due to low passenger numbers.

On 29 October 2007 the airline announced an expansion of routes from Plymouth and Newquay, adding flights from Plymouth to Grenoble, Cork, Dublin, Glasgow and Newcastle, and from Newquay to Grenoble, Glasgow and Newcastle. These new routes commenced on 28 April 2008 with the exception of Grenoble which followed on 20 December 2008 .

From 11 July 2009 Air Southwest began operation of a summer charter on behalf of C.I. Travel. The charter will operate between Oxford and Jersey every Saturday until 11 September 2009 .

The airline also operates charter flights on behalf of Plymouth Argyle F.C., transporting players and supporters to away games. They also recently signed a contract to provide a similar service for West Ham United F.C..

On 2 February 2009 the airline announced an expansion of its services between Plymouth and the Channel Islands with the introduction of a service to Guernsey starting on 8 April 2009 .

Further expansion of the route network was announced on 9 March 2009 when Air Southwest announced the launch of flights between Plymouth, Newquay and London City Airport starting on 20 April .

On May 17 , 2009 the airline underwent a rebrand to broaden their target audience and increase their market presence. A new slogan of “Fly Britain’s Local Airline” was adopted and supported by a television commercial on regional channels, a revamped website and a nation wide advertising campaign.

Another improvement to the services offered came into effect on May 31 , 2009 when the airline adopted the IATA code SZ. This allows passengers to book flights through external websites and travel agencies, it will also open up opportunities for interline agreements with other airlines.

Service

Air Southwest operate the standard buy-on-board service which provides passengers with a variety of snacks and drinks available for purchase. Passengers are given allocated seating when they check-in. A 20 minute minimum check-in time has been introduced for all passengers travelling from Plymouth and Newquay with hand luggage only.

The airline operate a premimum service called Business Plus . This service offers the following benefits:

• Free changes to booking up to two hours before flight departure
• Business lounge access
• Provided lotion (for women and men)
• Fast track security
• Free on-board refreshments
• Increased baggage allowance of 30 kg

Destinations

Fleet

The Air Southwest fleet includes the following aircraft (at 10 March 2009 ):

External links

• Official website

References

1. ^ "Contact Us." Air Southwest. Retrieved on 20 September 2009.
2. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International : p. 67. 2007-03-27.  
3. ^ Operating Licence
4. ^ Company Details
5. ^ Direct Flights from Oxford to Jersey
6. ^ Air Southwest to start service to Guernsey
7. ^ New Flights to London City
8. ^ Major advertising campaign
9. ^ Air Southwest seeks global audience
10. ^ News: Express Service
11. ^ News: Business Plus

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