Easyjet’s Manchester to Moscow direct flights to be cut next summer – more sunny tourist destinations instead

In March, EasyJet launched the Moswow route with the expectation of carrying around 60,000 passengers during the first year, with 4 flights every week. But from May to September there will be just 2. There isn’t the demand. Instead EasyJet (what a surprise) will put on extra flights to Mediterranean holiday destinations – to meet their “customers’ needs”. The Moscow flights were heralded as critical to the strategy to see North West firms increase their presence in emerging markets and away from its current reliance on the EU. A Manchester Airport spokesman said: “We’re disappointed to lose frequency on Moscow but pleased to see that the capacity will be used on increased flights to popular destinations such as Athens and Thessaloniki….The Moscow route remains important for businesses based in the North West which are looking to serve new markets such as Russia and is helping to increase trade between the two regions.” It is claimed “Manchester’s exports to Russia have grown by 27% in the last two years.” The airport says it has 190 direct destinations.Manchester had 24% of its passengers travelling on business in 2012.
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Easyjet’s Manchester to Moscow direct flights to be cut next summer

The airline launched the route on March 28 with the expectation of carrying around 60,000 passengers during the first year, with four flights every week. But from May 12 to September there will be just two.

Tetrabrain

Direct flights from Manchester Airport to Moscow will be halved next summer.

The airline launched the route on March 28 with the expectation of carrying around 60,000 passengers during the first year, with four flights every week. But from May 12 to September there will be just two.

It was heralded as critical to the strategy to see North West firms increase their presence in emerging markets and away from its current reliance on the EU.

An easyJet spokeswoman said: “easyJet currently offer four flights per week from Manchester to Moscow. This will reduce slightly during peak summer to offer additional flights to sun destinations such as Athens and Thessaloniki.

“We continually review our flying schedule to ensure we offer the right combination of routes to meet our customers’ needs and it is common to replace city breaks with sun destinations during peak summer.”

An autumn schedule has yet to be finalised.

A Manchester Airport spokesman said: “We’re disappointed to lose frequency on Moscow but pleased to see that the capacity will be used on increased flights to popular destinations such as Athens and Thessaloniki.

“We remain committed to supporting easyJet’s growth here at Manchester and it’s not unusual that a carrier will switch operations to meet the needs of the summer season, where passengers are looking for more sun orientated destinations for their main annual holiday.

“The Moscow route remains important for businesses based in the North West which are looking to serve new markets such as Russia and is helping to increase trade between the two regions.”

The route was launched with an advertising campaign to encourage Russians to visit the region.

Manchester’s twin city is St Petersburg and Manchester has a Russian social club, shop, restaurant and Orthodox church.

Manchester’s exports to Russia have grown by 27 per cent in the last two years.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/easyjets-manchester-moscow-direct-flights-manchester-6392816

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In 2012, the CAA Air Passenger Survey showed Manchester had 23.9% of its passengers travelling on business. The rest (75%) were on leisure trips.  https://www.airportwatch.org.uk/?p=18253

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Below is the airport’s total list of destinations (mostly tourism)

http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/Info/MAN/AllDestinations

Antigua ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
Innsbruck AUSTRIA
Salzburg AUSTRIA
Vienna AUSTRIA
Barbados BARBADOS
Minsk BELARUS
Antwerp BELGIUM
Brussels BELGIUM
Bourgas BULGARIA
Sofia BULGARIA
Varna BULGARIA
Calgary CANADA
Toronto CANADA
Vancouver CANADA
Boa Vista CAPE VERDE
Ilha Do Sal CAPE VERDE
Dubrovnik CROATIA
Pula CROATIA
Split CROATIA
Cayo Coco CUBA
Santa Clara CUBA
Varadero CUBA
Ercan CYPRUS
Larnaca CYPRUS
Paphos CYPRUS
Prague CZECH REPUBLIC
Aarhus DENMARK
Billund DENMARK
Copenhagen DENMARK
Puerto Plata DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Punta Cana DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Cairo EGYPT
Hurghada EGYPT
Luxor EGYPT
Marsa Alam EGYPT
Sharm el Sheikh EGYPT
Taba EGYPT
Tallinn ESTONIA
Enontekio FINLAND
Helsinki FINLAND
Ivalo FINLAND
Kittila FINLAND
Rovaniemi FINLAND
Avignon FRANCE
Bastia FRANCE
Bergerac FRANCE
Beziers FRANCE
Biarritz FRANCE
Brest FRANCE
Calvi FRANCE
Chambery FRANCE
Dordogne FRANCE
Dordogne – Brive FRANCE
Figari FRANCE
Grenoble FRANCE
La Rochelle FRANCE
Limoges FRANCE
Lourdes FRANCE
Lyon FRANCE
Montpellier FRANCE
Nantes FRANCE
Nice FRANCE
Paris FRANCE
Perpignan FRANCE
Rennes FRANCE
Toulouse FRANCE
Tours FRANCE
Banjul GAMBIA
Berlin GERMANY
Bremen GERMANY
Cologne GERMANY
Dusseldorf GERMANY
Frankfurt GERMANY
Friedrichshafen GERMANY
Hamburg GERMANY
Hanover GERMANY
Memmingen (near Munich) GERMANY
Munich GERMANY
Stuttgart GERMANY
Gibraltar GIBRALTAR
Athens GREECE
Chania GREECE
Corfu GREECE
Heraklion GREECE
Kalamata GREECE
Kavala GREECE
Kefalonia GREECE
Kos GREECE
Mykonos GREECE
Mytilene GREECE
Preveza GREECE
Rhodes GREECE
Santorini GREECE
Skiathos GREECE
Thessalonika GREECE
Zakynthos GREECE
Budapest HUNGARY
Reykjavik ICELAND
Goa INDIA
Cork IRELAND
Dublin IRELAND
Knock IRELAND
Shannon IRELAND
Waterford IRELAND
Ovda ISRAEL
Tel Aviv ISRAEL
Brescia ITALY
Cagliari ITALY
Catania ITALY
Milan ITALY
Naples ITALY
Olbia ITALY
Pisa ITALY
Rome ITALY
Sicily ITALY
Trapani ITALY
Turin ITALY
Venice ITALY
Verona ITALY
Montego Bay JAMAICA
Mombassa KENYA
Riga LATVIA
Male MALDIVES
Malta MALTA
Cancun MEXICO
Agadir MOROCCO
Marrakech MOROCCO
Amsterdam NETHERLANDS
Bergen NORWAY
Oslo NORWAY
Stavanger NORWAY
Islamabad PAKISTAN
Lahore PAKISTAN
Gdansk POLAND
Katowice POLAND
Krakow POLAND
Rzeszow POLAND
Warsaw POLAND
Faro PORTUGAL
Funchal PORTUGAL
Lisbon PORTUGAL
Ponta Delgada PORTUGAL
Doha QATAR
Moscow RUSSIA
St Lucia SAINT LUCIA
Singapore SINGAPORE
Ljubljana SLOVENIA
Alicante SPAIN
Almeria SPAIN
Barcelona SPAIN
Bilbao SPAIN
Fuerteventura SPAIN
Girona SPAIN
Gran Canaria SPAIN
Ibiza SPAIN
La Palma SPAIN
Lanzarote SPAIN
Madrid SPAIN
Mahon, Menorca SPAIN
Malaga SPAIN
Murcia SPAIN
Palma, Majorca SPAIN
Reus SPAIN
Tenerife SPAIN
Valencia SPAIN
Gothenburg SWEDEN
Ostersund SWEDEN
Stockholm SWEDEN
Basel SWITZERLAND
Geneva SWITZERLAND
Zurich SWITZERLAND
Djerba TUNISIA
Enfidha TUNISIA
Tunis TUNISIA
Antalya TURKEY
Bodrum TURKEY
Dalaman TURKEY
Istanbul TURKEY
Izmir TURKEY
Abu Dhabi UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Dubai UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Aberdeen UNITED KINGDOM
Belfast UNITED KINGDOM
Edinburgh UNITED KINGDOM
Exeter UNITED KINGDOM
Glasgow UNITED KINGDOM
Guernsey UNITED KINGDOM
Inverness UNITED KINGDOM
Isle of Man UNITED KINGDOM
Jersey UNITED KINGDOM
London UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester UNITED KINGDOM
Newquay UNITED KINGDOM
Norwich UNITED KINGDOM
Southampton UNITED KINGDOM
Atlanta UNITED STATES
Chicago UNITED STATES
Las Vegas UNITED STATES
New York UNITED STATES
Orlando UNITED STATES
Philadelphia UNITED STATES
Washington USA

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The airport’s website on destinations says:

“NEED SOME INSPIRATION FOR YOUR NEXT HOLIDAY?”

http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/manweb.nsf/Content/destinations

…. so much for the importance of the business links ….