On Monday evening, the British Ambassador to Luxembourg, HE John Marshall, invited members of the British business community in Luxembourg to his residence for a series of presentations by representatives from Birmingham and Manchester, the two destinations served by FlyBe from Luxembourg airport.
Earlier in the day, the large delegation had met with Luxembourg's Chambre de Commerce in order to build networks and promote both business and leisure opportunities from their regions, with the reports from the British delegation most promising indeed.
Ambassador John Marshall welcomed the FlyBe representatives as well as those from Birmingham and Manchester's business communities. He remarked that the event was an occasion for celebrating two vibrant, outward-looking cities, a gateway to a great education, weekend breaks (football and the national cycling centre in Manchester, for example), and the City of Birmingham with its Symphony Orchestra and Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, just 25km away, and the home of Cadbury's chocolate with its visitor centre, Cadbury's World. He spoke of the wonderful holiday opportunities, as well as the real potential for strengthening business links too. He revealed his excitment concerning the new flights now on offer, with the new route bringing British universities, for example, closer to Luxembourg.
Following the screening of two short promotional videos, each featuring one of the two cities, Johan vanneste, CEO at Lux-Airport, stated that FlyBe has filled a big gap in the destination map of the airport, offering flights to other parts of the UK than London, and talked up both cities. He also referred to discovering Dutch football fans who have driven down to Luxembourg to catch FlyBe flights to Manchester.
Representatives from the delegation then each made short presentations addressing different strengths of the two cities and regions. Peter Matthews CMG, Chairman Black Country Metals and International Trade Ambassador, described the meeting earlier in the day with Luxembourg's Chamber Of Commerce as very fruitful. He also referred to the canals of the west midlands, and Birmingham being the UK's 2nd financial city.
Paul Willoughby, FlyBe Regional General Manager, introduced the airline which is Europe's largest regional airline, flying 217 routes including to 10 countries, and stressed its punctuality record. The airline has a fleet of 76 aircraft including 51 Bombardier Q400s (78 seats) which are used on the Luxembourg routes (with Luxair handling ground operations at Luxembourg airport). Daily flights are being operated in winter for both destinations - Manchester started with two daily flights but this has dropped down to one.
Giuliana Pipola, from the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, explained that she helps British businesses regarding exporting as well as attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). John Philipps of Inspiring business West Midlands, and the Institute of Directors, explained that he was here to help with business connectivity and clusters. Stephanie Mynett, Business Development Manager at Marketing Birmingham, presented statisticss on the city and focused on corporate events and tourism. She also referenced the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, as well as gastronomy - Birmingham is proud of Michelin stars - technology and life sciences. Helen peters, CEO of Shakespeare's England, explained that she represents leisure tourism as well as business tourism in the South Warwickshire region - the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Ann Hathaway's House, as well as Warwick Castle and the British Motor Museum, and that they will shortly in 2017) launch a significant new initiative to promote canals and waterways in the region. Emma Curroe and Sara Tomkins from Visit Manchester talked about both the great northern cities and fantastic countryside - the gateway to the north.
Photos (below): British Ambassador John Marshall; (bottom): FlyBe's Paul Willoughby
