London City Airport has launched ski and Christmas routes to Chambéry and Salzburg, providing even more choice for passengers this winter. As the first meaningful European ski season since the pandemic gets underway, passengers are expected to hit the slopes as they look to get their ski legs back.

Starting this week from the 9^th of December, BA CityFlyer will fly to Salzburg and from the 17^th of December direct to Chambéry in the French Alps twice a week. Chambéry Airport is under 90 minutes away from popular ski resorts such as the Three Valleys (Courchevel, Méribel and Val Thorens); Megève; Portes du Soleil; Chamonix and La Clusaz. While Salzburg, known for being the birthplace of Mozart, is 60 minutes from the slopes of Kitzbühel, Bad Hofgastein and Zell am See.

These routes to the Alps complement existing BA CityFlyer and SWISS services to Geneva and Zurich, plus services to Frankfurt (with BA CityFlyer and Lufthansa), Prague, Dusseldorf and Berlin (with BA CityFlyer), which are perfect for the Christmas markets.

Read more: London City Airport announces Andrew Hodges as new Chief Commercial Officer

These leisure routes start as LCY’s November passenger numbers are up 187% on the same period last year, with 272,000 passengers as the airport closes in on reaching 3 million passengers in 2022. November’s growth is primarily due to BA CityFlyer’s expanded schedule.

Meanwhile, LCY’s forecast is nearly three times higher than December last year, with 245,000 passengers expected through the airport this December and 60,000 passengers expected in the week leading up to Christmas.

“We are delighted these routes between London City Airport and the Alps are launching this December, which will provide even more choice for passengers this ski season and for the Christmas markets,” Anne Doyere, Aviation Director, said.

Read more: London City and Leidos announce partnership to transform airport security experience

“London City is perfectly placed for passengers to go straight from the office to the Alps for a quick ski trip this winter, as it’s possible to get from central London to your gate in around 40 minutes or from Canary Wharf to your gate in around 30 minutes. That means you could leave your London office and be in the Alps in under three hours. That’s an incredible proposition for passengers,” Doyere added.

The airport served 24 destinations in November and this will grow to 26 destinations in December. The top destinations for November were Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Zurich, Frankfurt and Dublin.

In addition to Chambéry and Salzburg, SWISS offers 22 services a week to Zurich, with BA CityFlyer offering 17. BA CityFlyer also has three services a week to Geneva in December, growing to five in January, while SWISS offers 11 services to Geneva in December, growing to 13 in January.

The post London City Airport launches ski and Christmas routes to Chambéry and Salzburg appeared first on AIR CARGO WEEK.