British low-cost carrier easyJet recently revealed a selection of new routes for the winter. While the most eye-catching of these feature international destinations such as Iceland's Akureyri, the orange-clad airline is also expanding its network closer to home. For example, November will see it connect Glasgow and Southampton.

A new domestic corridor for easyJet

As reported by Glasgow Airport last week, the Luton-headquartered budget airline will commence flights between Glasgow (GLA) and Southampton (SOU) on November 2nd this year. easyJet plans two operate two weekly rotations on this UK domestic corridor, with flights departing on Thursdays and Saturdays. Commenting on the launch, easyJet's UK Country Manager Ali Gayward stated that:

"We’re delighted to announce this new route from Glasgow to Southampton, which will provide customers in Scotland even with greater connectivity across the UK, enabling people to explore more of the fantastic destinations the UK has to offer, reconnect with loved ones, and do business."

These flights are now bookable, with the Thursday Glasgow-Southampton flights departing at 16:00, and are scheduled to land at 17:20. After a quick 30-minute turnaround, the return leg is scheduled to take to the skies at 17:50, and touch back down at Glasgow Airport 85 minutes later, at 19:15. On Saturdays, the flights last from 08:05 to 09:25 (GLA-SOU) and 09:55 to 11:20 (SOU-GLA).

Competition on the corridor

Come November, easyJet won't be the only airline offering aerial connections between Glasgow and Southampton. Indeed, Scottish regional carrier Loganair also has a considerable presence on this route, operating as many as four flights a day. This underlines the corridor's popularity, as alluded to by Matt Hazelwood, CCO at AGS Airports, the owner of Glasgow Airport:

"easyJet’s plans to operate services between Glasgow and our sister airport in Southampton this winter is great news and this additional service on this popular route will help deliver greater choice and flexibility for both our business and leisure travellers."

The demand for the route is further underlined by data from the United Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority, which shows that around 75,000 passengers used it in each direction last year. This made Southampton Glasgow Airport's ninth most popular domestic destination last year, while Glasgow ranked fourth overall in terms of Southampton's routes, with passenger numbers more than doubling.

An important aerial link

While Glasgow and Southampton aren't exactly the UK's largest airports, the importance of a direct aerial link cannot be understated. With no direct trains between the cities, rail journeys require a change in London, with journey times of almost seven hours. Meanwhile, driving from Glasgow to Southampton demands over seven hours on the road, and a trip of around 430 miles (690 km).