Welcome To Coventry Airport

Top of Passenger Poll

22nd October 2007

22 October 2007

Coventry Airport Top of Passenger Poll

Coventry Airport has topped a passenger poll on UK airport delays, leaving other UK airports standing when it comes to queueing.

The online poll, managed by independent holiday firm, Travel Counsellors, shows that passengers travelling through Coventry Airport over the past two months had to wait less than four minutes to clear security and didn’t have to wait at all to get through immigration. Passengers at Manchester Airport faced the longest queues in the country, placing the airport in the lowest position of 20th with an average delay of 29 minutes. Birmingham International came in 15th place, with an average wait of 19 minutes to clear immigration.

Travel Counsellors set up the site to enable travellers to describe their experiences. One Manchester passenger told the website, ukairportdelays.co.uk, there was ‘no need' for lengthy queues. Another said they had faced 'massive congestion'.

Coventry Airport, however, received no such criticism. One passenger travelling through Coventry reported: ‘I arrived at check-in an hour before take off, travelling from Coventry to Alicante … I had zero wait at check in. The return was also very straightforward. In row three so one of the first to immigration. No wait at all …

“And because of the ‘keep it simple’ process there, the carousel started as soon as I walked through with the first bags on. Lo-cost at its most obvious but very simple and quick.”

David Speakman, of Travel Counsellors, said: "Airports have an obligation to put travellers through as quickly and efficiently as possible. It's not rocket science. You calculate how many people will be going through and put enough staff in place."

Guy Stephenson, Commercial Director at Thomsonfly, said: “We know that getting through security and immigration can be a frustrating experience for airline customers, but this shows that Coventry Airport is streets ahead of most other airports in terms of its security waiting times. With the ability to park next to the terminal, and good access to transport links, using regional airports such as Coventry can be a huge time saver all around. We are therefore convinced that the use of regional airports will continue to grow as customers become more aware of their time-saving benefits.”

“We are delighted that this independent passenger survey underlines what we have always claimed at Coventry - we put our passengers first,” said Chris Orphanou, Coventry Airport’s Managing Director. “Whilst we are well aware that our current facilities are limited, we have put into place an extensive forward thinking development plan and almost £10m has been invested in improvements at the airport since January 2006.

“We were very disappointed to have our planning application for a new terminal rejected. However, this decision is being challenged by a formal appeal and in the interim the management will continue to update the airport’s facilities.”

The team at Coventry Airport remains confident it will get the necessary approval to go ahead with the construction of a new terminal, which will increase the capacity for passenger throughput from 0.98 million to two million passengers per annum.

Chris Orphanou said: “We are keen to reverse the Inspectors recommendations for the benefit of our business, the community and the region. The recent announcement of new flights by Wizz Air, confirms what we set out to achieve: “An improved airport with facilities that our customers deserve.”

“The current facilities at Coventry Airport are an interim arrangement and we are keen to make improvements where necessary. In the meantime we continue to move forward with developing other aspects of the airport, in particular the airline route network.”

Thomsonfly.com operates flights to 12 key European destinations from Coventry, including Malaga, Palma, Pisa and Faro. The airport’s latest airline partner, Wizz Air, commenced scheduled services to Katowice in Poland in July and starts a new route between Coventry and Gdansk next March. There are other carriers at an advanced stage of negotiation, keen to exploit the advantages available at Coventry - accessibility (surrounded by major road systems in the heart of the UK) fast aircraft turnaround (consistently within 25mins) fast passenger processing and less that 15mins from aircraft seat to car seat.

Coventry Airport has excellent ground transportation links. There is an hourly bus service connecting the airport with Coventry Rail Station, Pool Meadow Bus Station and Coventry city centre. For passengers travelling from London the train to London Euston takes just 60 minutes and car parking at the airport is just a few steps away, adjacent to the passenger terminal.

- Ends -

Note to Editors:

Coventry Airport was first opened in 1936 and recommenced passenger operations in March 2004. The airport is now used by nearly 700,000 passengers per annum, from Coventry, Leamington, and surrounding areas. The freehold is owned by Coventry City Council. Both Warwick District Council and Coventry City Council backed the application to permit the airport to fly two million passengers per annum.

Sue Lindsay Helen Stevens

Marketing & PR Manager Emerald Media

Coventry Airport T. 07917 716993

T: 02476 308681 helen@emeraldmedia.co.uk

M: 07904 639101

slindsay@coventryairport.co.uk

www.coventryairport.co.uk

Media Enquiries Contact: Sue Lindsay +44 (0) 2476 308681

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