Skylink (bus service)


Skylink is the brand name for bus services that serve East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire. Services are presently operated by Kinchbus and trentbarton, both a part of Derbyshire based Wellglade Group.

Services

Skylink buses operate 24 hours a day 7 days a week on the Leicester/Derby, Nottingham and Clifton routes.
Kinchbus have operated the service between Leicester and Derby since 2002. The route was originally called the Air Line Shuttle, and ran between Loughborough and Long Eaton via the airport. In 2003, the route was changed, running between Loughborough railway station and Derby, via Loughborough town centre and the airport.
Arriva Midlands ran a limited-stop service between Leicester and the airport via New Parks and the M1 between 2006 and 2009. Afterwards this service was replaced by an extension of the skylink Derby to the present route, which no longer serves Loughborough railway station, but instead runs down the A6 to Leicester via Birstall.
Nottingham City Transport ran a blue Skylink service between Nottingham and the airport via Clifton between 2004 and 2012. This service was replaced by a new Skylink service operated by trentbarton via Long Eaton, which also replaced the arm of their indigo service between Long Eaton and Loughborough via East Midlands Airport and Sutton Bonington that ran between 2002 and 2012. Following a local petition, an hourly extension service to Coalville via Shepshed was introduced in September 2015.
A third service, Skylink Express, is also operated by trentbarton which runs between Nottingham and East Midlands Airport called Skylink Express. This operates via Wilford and Clifton and then directly to EMA along A453 Remembrance Way, along the route of the former Nottingham City Transport service. This service was inaugurated in 2016.
Although not a part of Skylink, trentbarton also operate hourly extensions to East Midlands Airport on their My15 route between Ilkeston and New Sawley.

Services and fleets

Skylink services are operated by a variety of vehicles with the Nottingham route using eleven Enviro200 MMCs, and the Express Clifton route using three Wright Solars.
The Leicester-Derby route run by Kinchbus currently operates with 11 Mercedes-Benz Citaros although they are due to be replaced in spring 2020 with a fleet of ADL Enviro200 MMCs due to reliability issues.
ServiceOperatorColourRoutePeriodFleet
Air Line ShuttleKinchbusn/aLoughborough - Airport - Long Eaton2002-2003Plaxton Pointer
SkylinkNottingham City TransportblueNottingham - Wilford - Clifton - Airport2004-2012Scania Omnicity
Air Line Shuttle
Skylink Derby		Kinchbusn/a
yellow		Loughborough railway station - town centre - Airport2003-2009Plaxton Pointer
SkylinkArriva Midlandslight greenLeicester - New Parks - East Midlands Airport2006-2009Hispano/Volvo
Wright/Volvo Eclipse
Skylink Derby-LeicesterKinchbusyellowDerby - East Midlands Airport - Loughborough - Leicester2009-presentPlaxton/Volvo Centro
Wright/Scania Solar
Mercedes-Benz Citaro
ADL Enviro 200 MMC
Skylink NottinghamtrentbartonblueNottingham - Long Eaton - Airport - Loughborough/Coalville*2012-presentWright/Scania Solar
ADL Enviro 200 MMC
Skylink Express/
Skylink Clifton		trentbartongrey
grey/blue		Nottingham - Clifton - Airport2016-presentIrizar
Wright/Scania Solar