Whatever your views about the pros and cons of Oxford Airport growing into the world of scheduled flying — and there was an anti-noise demonstration the day before the first ever international scheduled flight took off from there last week — one point is clear: flying from London Oxford Airport, as the place is now called, is not only convenient for Oxfordshire residents but also fun.

Arriving there on Saturday to catch the propeller-driven 74-seater Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 aircraft, operated by low-cost Swiss airline Baboo, to Geneva, was somehow reminiscent of an earlier age of flying: unhurried check-in, small departure lounge where mulled wine and mince pies were on offer to the 46 passengers who had booked tickets, short walk across the tarmac to board the aircraft where, instead of a trolley service, delicious canapes were served up on trays borne along the aisle by stewards.

The new flight operates once a week on Saturdays, leaving Kidlington at 14.05 and arriving in Geneva at 17.00; returning the following week from Geneva at 12.20, arriving in Kidlington at 13.20. Fares are from £89 one way.

Baboo chief executive Jacques Bankir, who was on board the inaugural flight, said: “At the moment we are planning to continue the flights until March 27, catering mainly for skiers, but if it’s successful we shall prolong it.”

And the airport’s chief executive, Steve Jones, added: “From the business point of view, there is also a lot of traffic between Oxford and Geneva, since so many Oxford scientists are visiting the Cern particle accelerator in Switzerland.”

Notice I could not bring myself to use the official title of the airport — London Oxford — but chatting to fellow passengers I reluctantly saw the sense, in marketing terms, of the name change. Many of the happy, healthy, and prosperous-looking throng, en route to the ski slopes, lived in west London and found the journey to Kidlington no more arduous than, say, to Luton or Stansted — and the reception far better.

London resident and keen skier Ollie Whitten, for instance, said: “I couldn’t go with EasyJet as planned, because of the snow. Then I found this flight on the Internet, and even though I had never heard of Oxford Airport I caught the train to Hanborough and here I am.”

Passengers were pleased, too, with the free carriage of skis and the fact that parking was free at weekends, and only £5 a day during the week.

The new Geneva service (all-but-full for Boxing Day) follows in the wake of the scheduled service to Jersey, launched last year, which now operates at 98 per cent capacity.

Compared with the last flight I took from Kidlington, aboard the ill-fated scheduled service to Cambridge launched in 2006 (which closed five weeks later), this Geneva operation seems like a serious proposition that might well herald the start of a “scheduled” future for Oxford.

Is that a good or bad thing? On the noise question, Mr Bankir pointed out: “The Bombardier is the quietest scheduled aircraft flying.”

Certainly, speaking as someone who grew up in Combe, just across Blenheim Park (a real winter wonderland, by the way, when snow covered and seen from the air), I remember the days when the airport was a prime training location for pilots; the constant drone of light aircraft was far from pleasant and the present state of affairs, with fewer but larger planes, seems preferable.

On the employment side, Mr Jones said: “The lifting of the airport to a higher category has meant more jobs. There are now 72 airport employees here, up from 48 last year.”

That, of course, is in addition to the people working for other businesses on the airport, including air taxi and air ambulance services.

Mr Jones said that the small-is-beautiful, almost romantic feel of the airport was “the kind of culture we want to get back to”, adding that the multi-millionaire Reuben brothers, owners of the airport, who are themselves based in Switzerland, were keen on developing such scheduled services as the Geneva flight.

Ahead of the Geneva service, the airport invested in full winter kit, including de-icers and snow clearing equipment. All very well, objectors might say, while it lasts. But the problems will arise when the place grows, the romance dies, and the place becomes too successful.

Perhaps the answer is for planners at Cherwell District Council to make sure that such expansion is constantly kept in check. Sadly, this being Christmas, no one was available at the council to comment.

Baboo, which already flies into London’s City Airport, was set up by Swiss entrepreneur and financier Julian Cook in the wake of the collapse of Swissair in 2001. His grandmother was Indian and he named the Geneva-based airline Baboo in her honour since that is an Indian term of respect.

But why did the airline, which now employs 210 people and owns five aircraft, decide to take the plunge and agree to use Oxford as a take-off point for its new service?

Mr Bankir readily admitted that lower landing fees than those charged at bigger airports were an important come-on. He added: “We heard about the possibility at a trade show and jumped at it. The launch has been very much better than we expected.”

The successful launch had, of course, much to do with luck. First, there was the winter weather which closed flights from other airports; second, there was the threat of a strike at BA.

And that second point illustrates the backdrop against which the airline industry is developing. Large, formerly state-owned flag carriers such as BA are unwieldly, saddled as they are with old fashioned Civil Service-like work practices and agreements, which make them vulnerable to competition from niche competitors, be they cut-price operators like Ryanair or pioneers in regional airports like Baboo.

Speaking personally, as an incurable romantic, flying Baboo from Kidlington reminded me of Graham Greene regularly flying from the same airport to Cambridge on a scheduled service; trips well chronicled in his book The End of the Affair. I am already planning a spring trip to Rome, since Baboo’s Saturday flight has a convenient connection at £101 one way. It’s even possible to return (via Geneva) from Florence. Sounds fun — but remember the advice from consumer website moneysavingexpert.com. Even some big-name airlines have collapsed in the past; so if possible book by credit card and make sure your travel insurance covers airline collapse (not, of course, that Baboo is any more likely to collapse than anyone else).