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VLM launches new flights from the UK to Ostend, the 'Belgian Riviera'

Flights to Ostend airport will not begin until October, missing the summer peak

Simon Calder
Travel Correspondent
Tuesday 24 April 2018 14:28 BST
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North-west connection: a VLM Fokker 50 aircraft will fly daily from Manchester to ‘Bruges-Ostend’ airport
North-west connection: a VLM Fokker 50 aircraft will fly daily from Manchester to ‘Bruges-Ostend’ airport

The airport that was once the leading Continental gateway for British holidaymakers will return to the flight schedules later this year.

Ostend airport on the Belgian coast is to be reconnected to the UK from 1 October, with a daily service from Manchester on the Flemish airline VLM Regional.

The airport now styles itself Bruges-Ostend, even though Bruges is 20 miles away and on the wrong side of of Ostend.

“OST”, to use its airport code, operates a limited number of holiday flights. But in the 1960s Ostend was one end of the busiest air routes in the world. The great aviation pioneer, Freddie Laker, ran a high-frequency car-carrying shuttle on the 97-mile link.

In 2003, Ryanair flew a 123-mile route from Stansted to Ostend, but it did not prove a commercial success.

The new flights are from Manchester, 264 miles from Ostend - a distance on which the extra speed of air will make more of a difference. The journey is scheduled to take just under two hours in each direction. Many flights on the new route are on sale for £78 return.

Ostend is a leading resort as well as a port. It is in the middle of the “Belgian Riviera”, a 42-mile shoreline which has a long-distance tram operating for almost its entire length. The tram stops close to the airport.

Before the cost of flying fell, the Belgian coast was very popular with British families. In the 20th century, Ostend had a busy ferry connection with the UK, as did nearby Zeebrugge.

Konstantijn Huys, commercial director of VLM, said: “Passengers flying to Bruges-Ostend Airport are within 20 minutes of the medieval city centre of Bruges.

“Bruges-Ostend Airport is also the perfect gateway for a visit to Flanders Fields, where so many young people sacrificed their lives during World War I.

“In the lead up to 11 November there will be numerous centennial events in West-Flanders commemorating the end of the Great War.”

Julian Carr, aviation director for Manchester Airport, said: “We’re delighted to see VLM coming back to Manchester.”

For VisitFlanders, Andrew Daines, director UK and Ireland, said: “Ostend was home to the Anglo-Belgian surrealist artist James Ensor, and a new state-of-the-art visitor experience incorporating Ensor’s original house will open next year.

”The city has plenty more to offer visitors seeking culture of all types, from the award-winning gallery Mu.Zee, to the Crystal Ship street art experience, and a wealth of contemporary, classical and popular live entertainment at the city’s Kursaal.”

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