A bus company has decided to reintroduce its Heathrow Airport service - a year and a half after it "reluctantly" axed it in a bid to "reduce financial losses".

Carousel Buses will extend its Chiltern Hundreds service 102 to reinstate the link to Heathrow Airport - which was withdrawn in June 2018 when the A40 service was cut.

At the time, workers at Heathrow Airport who relied on the service every day said they were "disappointed" with the decision to axe it.

In May 2018, Justin Nailard, who lives in High Wycombe and travels to work at Heathrow Airport at least four days a week, told the Bucks Free Press he and his fellow passengers were facing extra costs of up to £90 a month as they would be forced to take another bus from Uxbridge onto Heathrow to complete their commutes.

The reinstated service - which will connect High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Gerrards Cross and Uxbridge to the airport via luxury coaches - will begin on December 29 and will operate hourly throughout the day with extra early morning and late evening journeys.

The new service has been made possible through "significant" financial support from the airport, which is hoping to encourage more people to travel to the airport in sustainable ways.

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How the new coaches will look

The announcement comes as Carousel Buses reports strong passenger growth on the Chiltern Hundreds network of services, with more than 850,000 passengers carried in the last calendar year - a 20 per cent increase.

Introducing the connection to the airport is the next stage in Carousel Buses' development plan, bosses have said.

Phil Southall, Carousel Buses managing director, said: “This is fantastic news for airport workers and passengers living in the Chilterns.

"It forms the next stage of our strategy to provide continuous improvements to our service for passengers and to make bus travel more accessible and convenient.

“This will be the best way to access the airport on the A40 corridor and would not have been possible without the support of Heathrow Airport to help address the challenges around improving public transport mode share to the site.

"It highlights what can be achieved by bus operators when external funding support is provided by key stakeholders. We hope to work further with the airport to develop further new links and make additional improvements if this is a success.”

The new service will be operated with ultra-low emission luxury coaches with free Wi-Fi, air conditioning, USB charging and underfloor luggage space.

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Workers will be able to use the Heathrow Travelcard to access the service and passengers will also be able to use contactless payments on the vehicles.

Matthew Wooll, bus strategy manager at Heathrow Airport, said: "We are delighted to support the reintroduction of a direct bus service from Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross to Heathrow. This will provide a more sustainable transport option for locals travelling to the airport and will help to support Heathrow’s goal to reduce the number of airport-related cars on the road.

“We have listened to local communities who were disappointed by the withdrawal of the A40 bus service in 2018 and have since worked with Carousel Buses to come up with a solution.

"The new 102 service is set to be better than the previous A40, as it will have earlier and later journeys and more modern vehicles with lower emissions."