Budget airline bmibaby is confident that it will win a flights war with rival Flybe at Cardiff Airport. The airline's commercial director, David Hodge, said: 'We're 30% cheaper than Flybe, operate jet planes and provide good quality and reliable service. Why would people want to pay high fares?'
Mr Hodge was reacting to an announcement by Flybe that it will launch flights to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle from Cardiff on March 30. It will offer a greater frequency than bmibaby but use smaller capacity aircraft. Flybe also has plans to expand its Cardiff base in 2009 to provide services to Brussels and French provincial cities.
But Mr Hodge said: 'I had a little chuckle when I read about Flybe's plans to come in with these routes. Our fares start at £18.99, compared to £24.99. We've been a big success story for South Wales. We offer 13 destinations and 2.5 million passengers have used our low-cost services since we came into Cardiff in 2002. We will have a little bit of a battle but we don't see them as competition. I'm confident our customers will stick with us.'
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