Stansted Airport Chamber of Commerce

BAA Stansted is to increase its impressive public transport network further with the introduction of a new coach service linking the airport to Ipswich town centre.

The route, which will be operated by Excel Coaches, is the only direct public transport link between the airport and the town and will begin operating services every two hours from Spring 2008.

Stansted has seen a significant rise in demand for bus and coach services at the airport in recent years and now has more than 550 scheduled departures every day to over 50 destinations around the UK. The number of passengers using these services at the airport has grown from 7.6% in 2001 to around 19% in 2007*.

"More than 40% of our passengers use public transport to get to and from the airport which is the highest figure for a major UK airport and one of the highest in Europe," said Nicola Hooper, Stansted’s head of airline relationships and transport. "We believe this new coach service will be an attractive alternative for passengers travelling from Ipswich and will encourage them to use public transport to get to the airport rather than their car."

Guy McGregor, portfolio holder for roads and transport at Suffolk County Council, said: "This new coach service will offer an excellent direct link to the airport which, with a journey time of just over an hour, will be extremely convenient for people in the town and is a service that I intend to use when travelling to the airport."

Graham Hayden, managing director of Excel coaches, added: "We are delighted to be working in partnership with BAA on this new service and are extremely confident it will meet the demand for passengers travelling from Ipswich to Stansted. This new service will help us build on our own successful route network at the airport and will provide an important link for people living in the East of England."

The new Stansted – Ipswich coach service will begin operating on 1st May 2008 with a journey time of 1 hour 15 minutes. The price of a single fare will be £15, with a return fare of £20.