Air passengers in Chester travelling to Manchester Airport will be able to take advantage of a new price-busting bus link which launches next month.

Starting on October 21, the easyBus will run from the town’s General Railway Station to the international airport 16 times a day except Christmas Day.

The service, the first of its kind in the UK outside of London, starts at Telford and also takes in Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Wrexham Road in Chester on the way via the A5, A483 and M56.

Tickets currently start at £2 for a single journey per person and £4 return, with the average journey expected to take 55 minutes from Wrexham.

The first bus of the day will leave Shrewsbury at 4am, with the last coach departing Manchester Airport at 12.45am.

Links with major transport hubs

Wrexham council’s lead member for environment and transport, Cllr David A Bithell, said: “I really can’t welcome this service enough – it’s fantastic news.

“One of our main goals with regards to transport at the moment, as outlined in the Wrexham Connected plan, is to ensure that Wrexham has frequent, accessible and well-connected links with major transport hubs across North Wales and the North West of England – so a bus service from the railway station to Manchester Airport fits perfectly.

“We want to see more links like these in future, and I’d like to thank easyBus for putting us on the route.”

This is easyBus’ first service outside of London and is operated by Express Airport Transfers, who already operate routes in France.

Budget airport transfers

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, easyBus chairman and “easy” brand owner, said: “By providing year-round budget airport transfers, easyBus will help the traveller’s pound go that little bit further – particularly after sterling’s fall - that means more opportunity to enjoy what their holiday destinations have to offer.

“I’m also confident we can make a big impact by making Manchester airport even more accessible to those on a budget when compared with today’s sky-high taxi fares.”

Andrew Martin, owner of Express Airport Transfers, added: “We have been successfully operating easyBus in France and are excited to now bring the easyBus service to Manchester Airport in the UK.

“With over 14 years experience of providing low-cost airport transfers in France, the synergy between our two brands make our ongoing partnership a natural progression and continues our goal of delivering the best value airport transfers for our customers”.

Bookings can be made online via the easyBus website .