New routes: Newquay to East Midlands, Manchester to Copenhagen, Heathrow to Neom

There have been some interesting new route announcements this week that are worth mentioning, although none of them are miles and points related given the carriers involved.

Eastern Airways expands at Newquay

UK regional carrier Eastern Airways is doubling down at Cornwall Newquay Airport for 2023.

The airline already operates Newquay – Humberside and Newquay – Gatwick, with Gatwick soon to be up to three flights per day.

From 10th February, it will offer a daily flight between Newquay and East Midlands Airport.

This will be a year-round service, using a 72-seat ATR aircraft. Headline fares start at £69 each way including a checked suitcase. The airline believes that passengers will save up to five hours travel time in each direction compared to road or rail.

This is the only route served by Eastern from East Midlands. The aircraft will fly into Newquay from elsewhere, do a return trip to East Midlands mid morning / early afternoon and then head off elsewhere for the evening.

You can check schedules on the Eastern Airways website here.

Norwegian launches Manchester to Copenhagen

Whilst its long haul ambitions are dead and buried, Norwegian continues to rebuild itself as a low cost regional carrier to and around Scandinavia.

The airline is adding a number of routes from Copenhagen for Summer 2023, including Manchester.

From 23rd June, there will be 2-3 flights per week throughout the Summer.

Saudia launching Neom Bay to Heathrow flights

Finally, whilst this is probably not a top tourist destination just yet, Saudia is launching direct flights from Heathrow to Neom in Saudi Arabia.

Neom, as you may have seen in the press, is a proposed $500 billion mega-city in the northwest of the country. Most interest has been in ‘The Line’, a linear city which will be 110 miles long and 200 metres (not a typo) wide. It is planned to have nine million residents with all ‘services’ being within a five minute walk. It will be a ‘zero car’ city with a high speed rail line.

Whilst virtually nothing has been built so far, Neom will host the Asian Winter Games in 2029 so they are presumably planning to get a move on.

The new flight will begin on 7th December and operate once per week. The only other international flight to Neom at present is a weekly short-haul flight to Dubai.

The flight should be redeemable with Virgin Points once Virgin Atlantic joins Saudia in SkyTeam in January.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (March 2025)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review