Europort Express – a new airline in Rotterdam

Europort Express is a new carrier being set up in the Netherlands, based at Rotterdam The Hague Airport.

There has been much speculation over whether the airline was legitimate, however it seems that it will in fact be launching services from September 2012. Rob Smith spoke to Meilina Crampton about the venture:

Airline in the making, Europort Express announced last week its intentions to fly to 9 different destinations from its operating base in Rotterdam, famous for its vast port and closeness to The Hague and Amsterdam.

Six destinations in the UK and Ireland are featured, including Durham Tees Valley, Manchester and Dublin. Many of the destinations also have close sea port links which suggests that the airline is looking to compete with the North Sea ferry operators.

During an interview the airline’s Press Officer Meilina Crampton stated that the airlines main intention was to focus on the business traveller, however said “it would be a major issue if we ignored the leisure market, therefore our marketing campaigns will look to draw in both business and leisure flyers”

The aircraft chosen have been specifically selected so the airline will be able to operate multiple rotations per day. They include the Fokker 50 for routes with more demand, and the smaller 19 seat Jetstream 32.

Europort Express also hopes to have the exclusive use of these routes, as they believe there is only so much demand so the bigger companies such as the Dutch flag carrier KLM will not try to compete, nor will Cityjet who have cut back on routes since their take over of VLM.

The airline also hopes Rotterdam will be seen as a convenient substitute to flying to Amsterdam Schiphol, where the likes of KLM and British Airways fly.

The airline hopes to enter the market on a semi-low cost objective, therefore providing affordable prices, but still being able to make profit and supply a good service, in which every passenger will be entitled to a meal.

The ambitions for the airline have been made perfectly clear with their intentions being to hold a Dutch Air Operators Certificate within 2 year, but up until that stage the airline will use chartered aircraft and operate as a ticketing agency like Manx2 airline, which flies to many short-haul destinations from the Isle of Man.

Set to start operations on September 17th 2012, most flights will not start until January, therefore giving enough time to gain public interest and establish a good customer base at the destinations.