Opik wants air service stop-off

Montgomeryshire MP and keen pilot Lembit Opik is to push for a proposed new daily air service between north and south Wales to make a scheduled stop in Mid Wales at Welshpool Airport.

Mr Opik, leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, said it could benefit the region by bringing in high spending business leaders and international tourists.

An announcement was made last month that a Scottish company had been given the go-ahead to operate the new air link between Anglesey in the north and Cardiff in the south.

Highland Airways, from Inverness, is proposing to run two weekday return flights at the cost of about £50 to passengers, each way.

Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies said the service would offer "better business links and tourism opportunities", a comment that brought criticism from Mid Wales resident Douglas Jones from Knighton.

He said: "As usual it would appear that Mid Wales has again been left out of a development backed by the Welsh Assembly Government that benefits the north and the south but not the middle of Wales."

But Mr Opik said today: "In my view it would make a lot of sense for them to fly via Welshpool. It wouldn't add much time to the journey and effectively be a two-stop flight. I shall be seeing if we can encourage them to do that."

Mr Opik added that the flights would not be cheap but would be likely to attract "high value" industrialists and tourists, who would bring welcome high spending power to Mid Wales.

Mr Opik set up a private charter airline, West European Air Services, in conjunction with the manager of Welshpool Airport, Bob Jones, and other businessmen last year.