British Midland today announced the first scheduled service from Manchester, England to Washington D.C. with daily service set to begin on April 30, 2001.

“We are very pleased to welcome British Midland to Washington Dulles”, said James A. Wilding, President/CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, who attended the announcement ceremony in Manchester. “Dulles is a major mid-Atlantic gateway to Europe and this new service further establishes that role. Our goal is to provide frequent and competitive service to Washington travelers, and to meet their business and leisure travel schedule needs.”

British Midland Chairman, Sir Michael Bishop, said “This is great news for our transatlantic air travelers to and from Manchester.”

British Midland will operate A330-200 aircraft on a schedule that leaves Dulles Airport at 6:10 p.m. and arrives at Manchester at 6:15 a.m. British Midland is part of the Star Alliance and British Midland passengers can earn mileage on United Airlines and any other Star Alliance airline member.

Said James E. Bennett, Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer of the Airports Authority, “With the addition of this new service, there will be 62 flights a week to the United Kingdom from Washington Dulles International Airport. This is consistent with our ongoing effort to expand our international service to markets in Europe and throughout the world.”

Dulles Airport was the fastest growing major airport in the world in 1999 with a 26% increase in the number of passengers. The number of passengers flying on international flights increased nearly 13% that year. The Airports Authority Board of Directors recently approved a $3.4 billion construction program to expand facilities at the airport.