A new hourly shuttle service connecting Bournemouth International Airport with the town centre, Poole and Christchurch is being operated by an Optare Versa chosen for its robustness and stylish appearance.

Discover Dorset – a Bournemouth based tourism services business – was awarded the contract to run the service by the airport against tough competition from larger, established bus operators. It’s the first venture into stage carriage service operation for the four-year-old company.

Owner Tim Sanders says that Bournemouth Airport were impressed by the imaginative approach his business adopted to developing the service. This included selecting the Versa because it presented a modern and progressive image and creating a dedicated website, www.bournemouth-airport-shuttle.co.uk, through which to promote the service to local people and to visitors.

“We did a lot of work looking at different bus models used at other airports for this sort of intensive, seven-day-a week operation,” says Tim. “The Versa appealed to us because it is solidly built and the aerodynamic styling chimed with the ethos of modern air travel. Optare were also very helpful in determining an internal layout that exactly met our requirements.”

The 11 metre Versa would normally seat up to 40, but in the Bournemouth Airport Shuttle vehicle the seating has been reduced to 34 to allow additional luggage racks to be fitted. All passengers are seated on comfortable Esteban Civic VO seats fully trimmed in an attractive moquette and incorporating a grab handle in the design to assist them in moving safely to and from their seat. There’s a single wheelchair bay accessed by a simple ‘book-leaf’ manually operated ramp. The bus also carries tourist information and has Mobitec LED destination equipment.

Discover Dorset have opted for the MAN DO834 engine, which uses Exhaust Gas Recirculation technology to achieve Euro 4 emissions compliance. The engine delivers a comfortable 177bhp (132 kW) to help ensure good timekeeping on the route. It’s matched to an Allison 2100 Series five-speed automatic transmission. An integral KLAM electro-magnetic retarder – standard on Versa – reduces brake wear and contributes to fuel efficiency.

A novel feature of the dedicated website is the links it provides to 322 local hotels. These are listed alphabetically and a user simply finds their hotel and clicks on the link to learn the nearest stop at which to disembark. There are also links to other bus, coach and rail services from the Bournemouth Travel Interchange, which is on the route and from where connections can be made throughout Dorset and to Southampton and beyond.

Bournemouth Airport is one of the four airports in the Manchester Airport Group, which is the largest UK owned airport operator. Currently undergoing a £32 million re-development, this fast-growing airport is now used by over 30 airlines and tour operators flying to around 50 destinations and handling almost one million passengers a year.

For further information please contact:

David Rowlands, Automotive PR +44 (0)20 7494 8050