Swiss airline Baboo starting Oxford-Geneva flights from December

Baboo, the regional airline based in Geneva, Switzerland, is launching a new service between London Oxford Airport in England and Geneva International Airport in Switzerland on December 19, 2009.

This will be the first international, scheduled flight from London Oxford Airport, the privately owned airport located near Kidlington in Oxfordshire, near Oxford.

It was recently that Oxford Airport was officially renamed the London Oxford Airport.

Baboo, also known as Flybaboo, will operate the Oxford-Geneva service once a week – on Saturdays – using the Bombardier Q400 plane.

Flights will take off from Geneva International Airport at 12.20 p.m. and land in London Oxford Airport at 1.20 p.m. In the return direction, the flights are scheduled to leave Oxford at 2.05 p.m. and reach Geneva at 5 p.m.

Fares for the Oxford-Geneva service will begin from £78 (€84) one-way, inclusive of taxes and charges.

In addition, Baboo is launching twice-a-day, prime-time flights between London City Airport and Geneva International Airport from the end of October, 2009, Jacques Bankir, the chief executive of Baboo, said in a statement.

Oxford, one of the most popular tourist destinations in England, is also the third most-visited city in England, after London and Manchester. Over 10 million visitors from across the world visit Oxford each year.

The city of Oxford is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest surviving university in the English-speaking world and also regarded as one of the leading academic institutions in the world. Oxford, which is also famous for its skyline of ‘dreaming spires,’ is 50 miles (80 kilometers) from London.

The Baboo airline regularly flies to 19 destinations in Europe – including St Tropez, the seaside resort in southern France; Venice in Italy; and Biarritz, the city located on the Bay of Biscay in south-western France.

Jacques Bankir, the chief executive of Baboo, said in the statement that the Oxford-Geneva flights will let skiers to get to famed resorts in Switzerland and France with ease from Geneva International Airport. Some of the best resorts on the Alps are at a short distance from Geneva Airport – with Flaine, Megeve, Zermatt, Verbiers and Chamonix being some of the closest resorts.

The new air service also comes at the right time for the 2009-2010 ski season, the statement from the airline explained, adding that passengers flying with Baboo will get a “generous luggage allowance” in addition to free snowboard and ski allowances.