Virtual UK airline Manx2 has this week inaugurated one-stop flights between London Oxford and Belfast City offering an alternative flight option on the busy route between the two cities. The four times weekly niche service via the Isle of Man was launched on July 30, 2012 using a small regional turboprop. It follows the successful launch of flights by Manx2 from the London airport to the Isle of Man and Jersey earlier this year, which are now experiencing load factors of around 60 per cent.

“The launch of this new scheduled service to and from Belfast gives us the opportunity to showcase the world-class facilities we have here,” said Chris Orphanou, Managing Director, London Oxford Airport. “In addition to enabling local residents the chance to fly hassle-free to Northern Ireland, the combination of London Oxford’s strategic location and its great road, rail and bus links makes it the ideal gateway for inbound passengers to explore this historic region of England.”

Although there is already a significant amount of capacity between London and Belfast, a market that will grow further this winter as Aer Lingus and British Airways expand their own operations between the two cities, Manx2 believes that London Oxford offers a viable alternative to both business and leisure passengers who reside to the west of London who would be happy to pay a little more to fly from their congestion-free, local airport.

“The new London Oxford Airport route is another example of our commitment to delivering our passengers sensible and affordable travel through a first-class, uncongested airport,” said David Buck, Managing Director, Manx2. “We are determined to make travel even easier for all and thanks to this new route many popular destinations in London and the Midlands are more accessible to in-bound passengers.”

Manx2.com is an Isle of Man-based company selling tickets for flights operating between the Isle of Man and Blackpool, Belfast, Leeds Bradford, Newcastle, Gloucester, Jersey, Oxford and Anglesey. It also has a contract with the Welsh Government to provide flights between Cardiff and Anglesey with partner carrier FLM Aviation.