Danish carrier SUN-AIR has resumed scheduled passenger flights following a long hiatus over the COVID pandemic with the return of its Billund-London City Airport service. The carrier will offer six flights a week and has not revealed if its other mothballed European routes will return.

SUN-AIR restarts Billund-London flights

SUN-AIR has restarted its first scheduled passenger flights since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic after resuming flights between Billund Airport (BLL) and London City Airport (LCY) on September 5th. The Danish airline will operate six weekly flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays (x2) and Thursdays (x2).

Billund Airport said earlier this week,

"Today, September 5, SUN-AIR resumes their route to London City. The route is primarily aimed at business travelers, and the timing of the reopening is in line with Billund Airport's expectation that business travel is on the way back."

SUN-AIR, which operates under a franchise agreement with British Airways, mainly caters to business travelers and will operate this service with its 32-seater Dornier 328JET turbofans in a single-class configuration.

The airline cut all scheduled passenger services in early 2020. Still, it continued to operate charter and private flights, including a shuttle service for employees of pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca between Manchester, Cambridge, and Gothenburg.

London City Airport aviation director Anne Doyere added,

"Brick by brick we’ve built back our network and we’re delighted to welcome back Sun-Air and connections to and from Billund. We have enjoyed a strong summer and many new passengers have had the opportunity to experience the exceptional and unique level of customer proposition that we provide at London City. Looking ahead, we are optimistic about the rest of the year."

The full schedule

The airline will offer a daily roundtrip between Billund and London City on Mondays and Tuesdays, followed by two daily services on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Selected routes are operated in codeshare with Finnair and Qatar Airways.

Billund to London:

• BA8209 (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu) - Departs BLL at 08:35, arrives in LCY at 09:15
• BA8211 (Wed, Thu) - Departs BLL at 17:50, arrives in LCY at 18:30

London to Billund:

• BA8210 (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu) - Departs LCY at 09:45, arrives in BLL at 12:20
• BA8212 (Wed, Thu) - Departs LCY at 19:00, arrives in BLL at 21:35

SUN-AIR said,

"Save time by flying with SUN-AIR to London City Airport. The airport is located in the heart of London, just six kilometres from the Canary Wharf business district and less than 10 kilometres from central London. From the airport there are direct connections to the DLR station, which means you can reach Canary Wharf in just 13 minutes. Unlike the city’s other airports, you only need 30 minutes to check in at London City, saving you even more time and hassle."

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Remaining European network yet to restart

The Danish airline used to operate services to Brussels, Düsseldorf, Manchester and Oslo before the pandemic. While it is a promising sign to see SUN-AIR restart scheduled passenger flights to London, there is no official word on when or which of the airline's other European routes will resume.

The business traveler market suffered greatly over the pandemic, given that business travelers were far less willing to undertake lengthy quarantine periods on their trips. However, with air travel rebounding and almost all restrictions across Europe lifted, SUN-AIR can look forward to a boom in demand for its services.

Have you flown with SUN-AIR before? How did you find the quality of their service? Let us know in the comments.