Thomson & First Choice Increase Capacity & Introduce Five New Routes

Thomson and First Choice will be increasing capacity at Birmingham Airport through the introduction of over 37,000 additional seats and five new routes to Agadir, Morocco; Chania, Greece; Djerba, Tunisia; Porto Santo and Sal, Cape Verde.

The plans for summer 2015 also include the addition of further weekly flights for existing routes to Dubrovnik, Croatia; Kefalonia, Greece; Antalya, Turkey and Paphos, Cyprus bringing the total destinations on offer from Birmingham Airport to 46.

The move to introduce these routes is part of the UK’s largest tour operator’s strategy to ensure customers across the UK can fly from their local airport and stay at the best hotels in some of the most exciting destinations. The new routes went on sale on the 24th April.

Not only will customers from the Midlands now be able to fly to some fantastic destinations, but they will also have the opportunity to choose varying durations - not just the standard seven and 14 night stays.

Local sun seekers will also be able to join Thomson Cruises’ brand new itineraries from Dubrovnik with the introduction of the new additional weekly flight to Croatia. They will have the opportunity to sail on Thomson Celebration on itineraries such as Grecian Legends and Croatian Classics as well as taking advantage of the extensive cruise and stay programme on offer.

Karen Switzer, Director of Aviation Planning for Thomson and First Choice, said of the move: “Adding additional capacity from the Midlands and the introduction of five brand new routes demonstrates our commitment to Birmingham Airport and the local area, and following the success of similar routes across a number of regional airports, we know that the demand is there.

“Expanding access to our portfolio of destinations and hotels is a key part of our overall strategy and we hope that this move will enhance the holiday experience for our customers.”

William Pearson, Birmingham Airport’s Aviation Development Director, added: “Thomson is our largest tour operator so we’re extremely pleased to see it expanding its programme further from Birmingham in 2015. These five new routes and extra capacity on popular sun destinations is great news for travellers as it means more choice and availability for those wanting to fly from Birmingham with this leading airline.”