THE new boss of Liverpool’s John Lennon airport wants to shake off its reputation as a base for budget airlines.
Chief executive Matthew Thomas told the ECHO he wants the airport to become a hub for tourists coming into the city and business travellers.
He said he was also confident that its latest operator Norwegian can open up US and Asian routes for Merseysiders through its Oslo base.
Mr Thomas took over from former chief executive Craig Richardson earlier this month.
He said: “I want to make the airport one which Liverpool can be proud of. We recognise we have a long way to go, but our intentions are honourable, we are determined and I would like to think people can see that.”
Mr Thomas said he will aim to fill gaps in what destinations JLA currently offers.
He said: “Liverpool was a low-cost airport and Manchester was everything else.
“The gaps in our portfolio are destinations in the Mediterranean and a few gaps on the business side.
“Sadly it is not like flicking a switch. These kind of decisions are typically made 12 months in advance.”
Mr Thomas believes the rebalancing of Easyjet and Ryanair’s operations between JLA and Manchester could encourage new airlines to consider Liverpool as a viable base.
He said: “When Easyjet and Ryanair were here and not in Manchester, they were very good at what they did and maybe there were airlines which did not want to compete.
“But now they have gone to Manchester, that competitiveness situation might have changed.
“As Manchester realised it cannot miss out on the growth the low-cost guys delivered, it is for us to concentrate less about carriers but more about destinations – the Mediterranean, Turkey, Cyprus, the Greek Islands and North Africa – where there is a huge demand.
“We know we have the customers who want to fly for a week’s holiday but at the moment they are going to Manchester.”
Mr Thomas also believes business travel is ripe for investment, adding: “Easyjet is really looking to go after that market. They want 25% of their passengers to be business.”
New carrier Norwegian will start a route from JLA to Copenhagen as part of a five- year deal with the airport.
The operator currently has 70 aircraft and 259 more on order.
JLA aims to attract more direct links throughout Scandinavia and tap into Norwegian’s new global routes.
The airline will start to fly to New York and Bangkok from Oslo and Stockholm in May and June.
Mr Thomas said: “We can see the scenario where people from Liverpool will go to Oslo to go to the US or Thailand.”
But he said the Scandinavian links also offer exciting prospects.
He said: “Norwegian’s model is exporting Scandinavians and we are expecting 80% of the Liverpool-Copenhagen route to be Danes and Scandinavians coming in to Liverpool.”
Mr Thomas added the strong support for Liverpool FC in Scandinavia could probably make Norwegian’s inaugural route a success just based on football season traffic alone.
