Eastern Airways, which has developed a French network of services from its base in Dijon, will launch a new summer service from Southampton International Airport to Dijon in Eastern France. The UK regional airline has offered scheduled services from Southampton since 2003, and will introduce a three times a week summer service to Dijon from Monday 6 June 2011. Flights will operate on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays using a 29-seater Jetstream 41 aircraft.

On Mondays, flights will depart Southampton at 12.50pm, arriving in Dijon at 3.40pm local time. Services leave Dijon at 11.30am and arrive in Southampton at 12.20pm local time. Flights on Fridays take off from Southampton at 1.50pm, landing in Dijon at 4.40pm local time. Services leave Dijon at 12.30pm and arrive in Southampton at 1.20pm local time. Sunday services leave Southampton at 1.40pm, arriving at 4.30pm local time.  Flights leave Dijon at 12.10pm and land in Southampton at 1.10pm local time.
 
The city of Dijon is the capital of the Cote d’Or and Bourgogne region and industry includes manufacturing, automobile, electronics, machinery and pharmaceuticals. The region has some of the country’s best wine producing vineyards, and of course Dijon is famous for its mustard.
 
Kay Ryan, Eastern Airways’ commercial director, said: “This new summer service from Southampton is part of our wider development plans in Dijon to provide a UK link to the south of England. Southampton Airport is a popular gateway for heading to France and our service will save business and leisure travellers visiting the Burgundy region valuable time.” 
 
Jan Halliday, director of marketing & communications for Southampton Airport said: “We are absolutely delighted that Eastern Airways has announced a new route from Southampton to Dijon starting next month. This new service will be the first time regular air links have been established between the two cities, and further grows the airport’s status as the UK’s top gateway to France which now totals 15 French destinations. 
 
“This will be the only way to access the UK from the Dijon region and will provide an easy and fast way to access the whole of the south of England.  London is just 66 minutes away by train from Southampton Airport and the route provides an ideal way to access the Olympics in 2012 in both London and Weymouth.”
 
This latest announcement is part of Eastern Airways’ expansion plans for Dijon, following the set up of a dedicated French base in September 2010 with domestic services to Bordeaux and Toulouse. The airline has already confirmed the start of a daily domestic route from Dijon to Nantes from 16 May, while Southampton becomes Dijon’s only international route.
 
All Eastern Airways passengers travelling from Southampton gain access to a dedicated fast track security channel to avoid any queues in security search. As passengers board the aircraft they will be greeted with a friendly warm welcome as the cabin crew provide an efficient service with complimentary hot and cold drinks, plus snacks. There are also no additional charges for check-in, hold baggage or choice of seat as Eastern Airways provides an all inclusive service.
 
The airline also flies to Aberdeen, Durham Tees Valley, Leeds Bradford and Liverpool from Southampton.
 
Founded in 1997, Eastern Airways initially built its network of scheduled services around the North Sea offshore industry with flights up the east coast of England to Aberdeen. The airline now operates more flights from Aberdeen than any other carrier and has other key bases at Newcastle and Southampton. Domestic cross-country services also include Newcastle-Cardiff, Liverpool-Aberdeen, Southampton-Leeds Bradford, while the airline also offers Norwegian services to Stavanger and Bergen in Norway from Newcastle and Aberdeen. The airline is the UK’s second largest regional carrier and has a fleet of 30 aircraft flying from 21 airports in the UK, Ireland, Norway and France.