Flights Direct Norwich To Funchal

Since the summer of 2010, there is now a charter service flying from Norwich Airport direct to Funchal.

The current schedules run until 31st March 2011.   And, at the time of writing, return flights can be booked for as little as £174.

Landing at Funchal Airport

Things have certainly changed since the 1950s.  Then, the only way to travel by air to Madeira was by sea plane - and the journey took two days, stopping overnight in Lisborn.

Even as recently as twenty years ago, if you wanted to Fly to Madeira there was little chance of boarding a flight from your regional airport.  Now, thankfully, that has changed.  Regularly flights can be had from Aberdeen, Birminham, Bournemouth, Bristol, East Midlands, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle and Norwich.  Of course, all 4 main London airports fly direct to Madeira as well.

Press Release - 4th August 2010
The boss at Norwich Airport has predicted a return to growth this year after a 30% slump in passenger numbers last year saw its revenues fall by £2.4m, EDP reports. Elliott Summers said passengers will fall from 575,000 in 2008/09 to 404,000 for the year ending March 31, while turnover is expected to drop from £12.4m to £10m.

But despite tough trading conditions Mr Summers told the newspaper that an expansion in charter flights would spearhead growth in passengers in coming years, with 475,000 passengers forecast in the 2010/11 financial year. Eight new charter routes have been confirmed for this summer, including Tenerife, Bulgaria, Madeira, Portugal, Tunisia and Guernsey. He also revealed that the airport is in talks with airlines over possible new services from Norwich to Newcastle, Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow, Brussels and Dusseldorf.

Accounts for 2008/09 show Norwich Airport made a pre-tax loss of £1.36m, and despite efficiency savings of £1.4m the results for the current year are likely to be significantly worse after the drop in turnover. But Mr Summers said the airport was still on course to generate a profit by 2014, a target set in a five-year plan unveiled when he took over the role in January last year.

There is good news though!

Norwich Airport is set to see 30 percent growth in charter flights next summer, the Evening News reports. It will launch six new destinations - Tenerife, Bulgaria, Madeira, Tunisia, Portugal and Guernsey. Holidaymakers will be able to fly to Tenerife over Christmas and New Year, with the other destinations taking off in Summer 2010.

Elliott Summers, the airport's managing director, told the newspaper: 'Since I became managing director in January our focus has been to build relations with airlines and tour operators and introduce destinations that meet demand, providing more choice to customers from their local airport.

'We have concentrated on a hit list of popular destinations as indicated by our destinations survey and we are delighted to be offering our local passengers exactly what they have asked for.
'We are looking for local travel agents and customers support these new destinations and actively help us grow the airport in the coming years.'

Dale Harries is the owner of Norwich Airport VPS.