Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Archdiocese welcomes new flights to Rome

Glasgow Archdiocese has welcomed the news that a direct scheduled flight to Rome has been launched by the budget airline jet2.com. 

The flights will take off three times a week to Fiumicino Airport and prices start from £29.99 one way including taxes.

A spokesman for Glasgow Archdiocese said it was a welcome development.

“This is excellent news that will allow many more people to experience the joy and enrichment of a visit to the eternal city,” Ronnie Convery, the archdiocesan spokesman, said.

“For many Scots Catholics a trip to Rome would have been beyond their means but now, with convenient low cost flights, many more people will be able to have an enjoyable break while also deepening their Faith at the most significant sites in the Church—the tombs of the apostles, the catacombs and the great basilicas.”

Mr Convery added that the flights provided a great opportunity for Scots Catholics to see Pope Benedict XVI again after his visit to Scotland last year.

“With Papal audiences every Wednesday, and the Pope’s Angelus address in St Peter’s Square every Sunday [at Castel Gandolfo during summer], hopefully many more Scots will be able to see the Pope and hear him than ever before,” he said.

The new destination was launched following research carried out with Jet2.com’s Glasgow customers who voted Rome as the destination they would most like to visit from Glasgow in 2012. 

The new flights, which went on sale this week, will operate up to three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursday and Sundays with the first flight commencing from March 29 2012.