Low-fare carrier Go is to establish its third UK hub at East Midlands Airport in Derby, UK, in addition to its main base at London Stansted, and Bristol.
The airline will station three Boeing 737-300s at the airport by reallocating its current fleet and basing newly acquired aircraft there. The airline currently operates 18 737-300s.
At the same time, the former British Airways subsidiary says that it is pulling out of services between Dublin and the Scottish cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow after a vicious price war with rival low-fare carrier Ryanair to Glasgow.
Routes to be served from East Midlands will be announced in January, but there are not expected to be any new additions to the network.
There was speculation that Go might set up its third base in Scotland but the airline says East Midlands was cheaper.
Incumbent East Midlands operator BMI British Midland is already squaring up for a fight if Go's presence at the airport is effectively subsidised by higher charges imposed on other carriers.
"If we do not receive immediate assurances on this issue the airline will ask the Office of Fair Trading to investigate pricing practices at [the airport]," says BMI.
The airport, located near the cities of Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Sheffield, offers a catchment area of 2.6 million passengers within 45min drive and 10.6 million with a 90min journey by road.
Go says it expects to carry 500,000 passengers in and out of its new hub in the 12 months from May.
Source: Flight International
