Press releases

Arriva, one of the region's largest bus operators, is launching a brand new, express bus service from Manchester to Liverpool John Lennon Airport as part of its expanding AirLink network.

The AirLink 700 service will operate a direct link from Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station to the airport every hour, from 22 October, stopping at Sackville Street (Manchester), Salford, Eccles and Burtonwood Services

This new fast public transport link is a reflection of the growing numbers of Liverpool John Lennon Airport passengers who now need to travel between the Airport and Manchester. The most recent Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Survey confirms that 17 per cent of John Lennon Airport's passengers, which currently equates to over 700,000 passengers per year, based upon the Airport's current throughput of over 4 million annual passengers, come from or are going to the Manchester area.

The choice of low cost, direct services to an ever increasing range of destinations means that more and more passengers from throughout the North West now choose to fly via Liverpool John Lennon Airport, with Greater Manchester passengers making up the second largest group of airport users. Management at the Airport have been pushing for such a service for some time and are therefore delighted that Arriva are to provide this important link, particularly following the recent success of their similar Airport to Liverpool City centre service – the Airlink 500.

Bob Hind, managing director of Arriva North West and Wales, said:

This is an exciting and groundbreaking development for our North West network. There are increasing numbers of leisure and business travellers from the Manchester area who are choosing to fly from Liverpool and we want to offer them a cost-effective, hassle-free start to their journey.

Neil Pakey, Liverpool John Lennon Airport's managing director added,

Many cities of the size of Manchester such as Berlin, Barcelona, Milan and Washington have three airports and most others have at least two. Liverpool is now seen by many passengers as Manchester's alternative airport and we look forward to working closely with Manchester and in particular Marketing Manchester over the coming weeks.

The Airport Company believes that this important public transport link will prove popular with those inbound visitors to Manchester who travel via Liverpool using the many low cost airline services provided by operators such as easyJet and Ryanair. It is also in line with the new co-ordinated approach for the delivery of tourism across the region.

Marketing Manchester chief executive, Andrew Stokes added,

This initiative is a great example of a more regional approach to tourism which will benefit Manchester and the North West as a whole.

Notes for editors

• The AirLink 700 service will run every day of the year (except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day) from early morning until late at night. There will be a flat rate of £5 (10€) for adults and £2.50 (5€) for children. For further information, timetable enquiries etc, please contact Arriva Customer Services on 08701 20 10 88 or visit www.arrivabus.co.uk.