New to London City Airport this week is Air One - the privately owned Italian airline. The carrier has introduced services to Milan”s centrally located Linate Airport. The airline will compete with British Airways who serves Milan Malpensa 40 miles to the west of the city, nearly halfway to Turin, with a single daily operation. Air One operates an Avro RJ 70 with two flights weekdaily and single services at the weekend. In January the airline introduces a twice daily Rome operation and is considering Genoa and Turin for later in 2007.
London City Airport business development deputy director Bernard Lavelle is confident that the business communities, both in London and Milan, will support the service: ”Route development at London City Airport is driven purely by customer demand. We have very close links with the business community and work with them to provide direct air transport services they need. Milan is a destination in demand, especially Linate, as it provides a direct service between London”s city centre airport and Milan”s city centre airport. Air One is very keen to develop services to Italy and we wish them every success.”