Eastern Airways

[lbaspotter]

Haven't yet established if it's across the whole network but Eastern appear to be changing their flight numbers to be T37xxx on the LBA SOU for W17. Is this a pre-cursor to anything else does anyone know?

The flight numbers changes are possibly to do with the Flybe franchise agreement which starts next month. If i remember correctly all current Eastern Airways routes from the winter 2017/18 schedule starting in October which includes both the Leeds/Bradford to Aberdeen and Southampton routes will be also become bookable on the flybe.com website in August/September.

On another note it would seem Saab 2000, G-CERY has become Leeds based for time been as its operated the early EZE4711/4702 LBA-ABZ-LBA, then the EZE72Y/4705 LBA-SOU-LBA and this evening EZE4705/4716 LBA-ABZ-LBA rotations.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

I was on the late Northbound from Southampton yesterday. The aircraft encountered a bird strike on take off at Southampton but the decision was made to continue to Leeds.

To just add my comments to the ongoing conversation about Eastern's performance, it was obvious on the Southbound on Monday that the airline is an operational shambles, the crew are low on morale and the passengers are totally fed up. Someone with even the slightest bit of organisational ability would be able to walk into the company and make it work. It is the stupidest little things that are making it shambolic. The flight wasn't on the departure board, then the gate staff weren't ready to board the aircraft when the crew were ready, then a couple of repositioning staff had checked themselves onto the flight and double booked a couple of the seats so everybody was sitting in the wrong seat, the bus at Southampton took ten minutes to turn up after we parked and the luggage took a further twenty. The flight had already arrived from Aberdeen 20 minutes late. By the time we got off the plane in Southampton, we were 90 minutes behind schedule, all due to stupid, avoidable things.

Granted, not all of those things are Eastern's fault and Swissport are another that need a kick up the backside, however, someone at Eastern should be on top of these things, breaking down doors and reading the riot act. Heck, I will do it if they want.

On the plus side, despite the obvious morale issue, the crew on both legs were an absolute delight and they did a smashing job despite very difficult operating circumstances.

 

[oldendays]

Send for Sir Gerry Robinson, for both Eastern and Swissport.

 

[Finger66]

The flight numbers changes are possibly to do with the Flybe franchise agreement which starts next month. If i remember correctly all current Eastern Airways routes from the winter 2017/18 schedule starting in October whicincludes both the Leeds/Bradford to Aberdeen and Southampton routes will be also become bookable on the flybe.com website in August/September


On another note it would seem Saab 2000, G-CERY has become Leeds based for time been as its operated the early EZE4711/4702 LBA-ABZ-LBA, then the EZE72Y/4705 LBA-SOU-LBA and this evening EZE4705/4716 LBA-ABZ-LBA

Nothing yet showing on the BE website but if specify Flybe as an airline in the availability search in GDS the flights show, but only as T3 flight numbers

 

[lbaspotter]

Nothing yet showing on the BE website but if specify Flybe as an airline in the availability search in GDS the flights show, but only as T3 flight numbers

Yeah the not uploaded onto Flybe website yet. But I understand it should happen sometime this month or next.

 

[Jerry]

Yeah the not uploaded onto Flybe website yet. But I understand it should happen sometime this month or next.

Is that every Eastern route or just the ones they are operating for Flybe?

 

[lbaspotter]

Is that every Eastern route or just the ones they are operating for Flybe?

Yes all Eastern Airways flights from the winter 2017/18 schedule will become bookable on the Flybe website starting sometime either this or next month.

 

[Finger66]

This smacks of a whole merger or full franchise agreement not being very far aeay. May not be a bad thing as may provide better a/c flexibility as needed

 

[lbaspotter]

Sat at Headingley cricket ground watching Yorkshire vs Derbyshire T/20 and just noticed both Eastern Airways night stoppers are Saab 2000's. Don't think I've seen that happen before.

 

[White Heather]

Yes I noticed that too as I was there. Threw the game away though with all those extras.

 

[imagineif]

All T3 numbers going BE apparently...

 

[lbaspotter]

See Eastern Airways messed with the scheduled yet again today. Okay we had 2x Jetstream 41's based over weekend G-MAJJ & G-MAJT along with Saab 2000, G-CERY, So they shouldn't have had any problems with the first wave of departures this morning. Well that went to pot straight away.

• JS41 = G-MAJT did the early EZE70Y/71G Southampton then positioned out to Aberdeen empty as EZE11P.
• JS41 = G-MAJJ then did the mid morning EZE72Y/4703 & afternoon EZE4704/4705 rotations.
• S2000 = G-CIEC positioned in from Norwich as EZE72H then did the EZE4711/4702 Aberdeen rotation along with the EZE4701 mid morning flight back to Aberdeen
• JS41 = G-MAJW has operated this afternoons Southbound EZE76LK Aberdeen & then the late EZE76Y/77G Southampton service.
• JS41 = G-MAJK positioned into Leeds as EZE756 from Humberside then went on to operate the late Northbound EZE4705 service up to Aberdeen

Now if you've managed to keep up with all you'll have noticed that its only the late southbound EZE4716 service from Aberdeen that's been cancelled whilst Saab 2000, G-CERY has not moved all day and remains sat on the apron at Leeds. Meanwhile Jetstream 41's G-MAJW and G-MAJJ are the based night stoppers.

 

[imagineif]

Its become a bit of a joke really hasn't it. Its now a daily case of... "which one(s) will be cancelled" not will any be cancelled. I think if you added up the number of cancellations by T3 in the past few months it would be quite a jaw dropping figure. Since there was no apparent shortage of aircraft yesterday one can only assume there is still a shortage of crew... either that or the folks in ops are sniffing glue.

On a more serious note, this will have damaged both routes, lost loyal customers and driven them to seek alternatives. When they take on the flybe work I can only see the situation getting worse frankly.

 

[Finger66]

Very well said. As I have posted elsewhere we will be lucky to get away with only one casualty once the whole T3/BE/LM head to head starts. So perhaps this is the time for T3 to relinquish MME - ABZ and redeploy the aircraft and crew to LBA. After all they have no competition there. But that lack of competition can work against the routes because the pax don't immediately go to another carrier on the same route, just a different route altogether. T3 also if you remember withdrew from LBA - SOU when they had competition from BE. ABZ as a general market has declined massively in the last few years due to the oil and gas redundancies, so there is no way MME - ABZ is going to support both carriers. Redeploying crew from MME to LBA is not the biggest distance in the world so maybe some common sense in all of this may just start to prevail.

 

[lbaspotter]

Eastern Airways winter 2017/18 flight programme from Leeds/Bradford to both Aberdeen & Southampton is now fully on sale. All Monday to Friday flights remain operated by 2x based BAe Jetsteam 41 aircraft while the Saab 2000 make an appearance still on Sunday afternoon’s rotation. Also has been previously noticed all the flight umbers have been changed from EZE4700-4716 to EZE7600-7609 this is due to the new flybe codeshare which will come in to effect from the start of the winter 2017/18 schedule in October.


Mondays
EZE7609 = LBA 06:45 – ABZ 07:55 / EZE7602 = ABZ 08:25 – LBA 09:40 = JS41
EZE7601 = LBA 10:30 – ABZ 11:45 / EZE7606 = ABZ 15:30 – LBA 16:45 = JS41
EZE7605 = LBA 17:40 – ABZ 18:55 / EZE7608 = ABZ 19:25 – LBA 20:40 = JS41

EZE7600 = LBA 06:50 – SOU 08:10 / EZE7601 = SOU 08:40 – LBA 10:00 = JS41
EZE7602 = LBA 10:10 – SOU 11:30 / EZE7603 = SOU 12:00 – LBA 13:20 = JS41
EZE7604 = LBA 14:00 – SOU 15:20 / EZE7605 = SOU 15:50 – LBA 17:10 = JS41
EZE7606 = LBA 17:15 – SOU 18:35 / EZE7607 = SOU 19:05 – LBA 20:25 = JS41

Tuesdays
EZE7609 = LBA 06:45 – ABZ 07:55 / EZE7602 = ABZ 08:25 – LBA 09:40 = JS41
EZE7601 = LBA 10:30 – ABZ 11:45 / EZE7606 = ABZ 15:30 – LBA 16:45 = JS41
EZE7605 = LBA 17:40 – ABZ 18:55 / EZE7608 = ABZ 19:25 – LBA 20:40 = JS41

EZE7600 = LBA 06:50 – SOU 08:10 / EZE7601 = SOU 08:40 – LBA 10:00 = JS41
EZE7602 = LBA 10:10 – SOU 11:30 / EZE7603 = SOU 12:00 – LBA 13:20 = JS41
EZE7604 = LBA 14:00 – SOU 15:20 / EZE7605 = SOU 15:50 – LBA 17:10 = JS41
EZE7606 = LBA 17:15 – SOU 18:35 / EZE7607 = SOU 19:05 – LBA 20:25 = JS41

Wednesdays
EZE7609 = LBA 06:45 – ABZ 07:55 / EZE7602 = ABZ 08:25 – LBA 09:40 = JS41
EZE7601 = LBA 10:30 – ABZ 11:45 / EZE7606 = ABZ 15:30 – LBA 16:45 = JS41
EZE7605 = LBA 17:40 – ABZ 18:55 / EZE7608 = ABZ 19:25 – LBA 20:40 = JS41

EZE7600 = LBA 06:50 – SOU 08:10 / EZE7601 = SOU 08:40 – LBA 10:00 = JS41
EZE7602 = LBA 10:10 – SOU 11:30 / EZE7605 = SOU 15:50 – LBA 17:10 = JS41
EZE7606 = LBA 17:15 – SOU 18:35 / EZE7607 = SOU 19:05 – LBA 20:25 = JS41

Thursdays
EZE7609 = LBA 06:45 – ABZ 07:55 / EZE7602 = ABZ 08:25 – LBA 09:40 = JS41
EZE7601 = LBA 10:30 – ABZ 11:45 / EZE7606 = ABZ 15:30 – LBA 16:45 = JS41
EZE7605 = LBA 17:40 – ABZ 18:55 / EZE7608 = ABZ 19:25 – LBA 20:40 = JS41

EZE7600 = LBA 06:50 – SOU 08:10 / EZE7601 = SOU 08:40 – LBA 10:00 = JS41
EZE7602 = LBA 10:10 – SOU 11:30 / EZE7603 = SOU 12:00 – LBA 13:20 = JS41
EZE7604 = LBA 14:00 – SOU 15:20 / EZE7605 = SOU 15:50 – LBA 17:10 = JS41
EZE7606 = LBA 17:15 – SOU 18:35 / EZE7607 = SOU 19:05 – LBA 20:25 = JS41

Fridays
EZE7603 = LBA 13:20 – ABZ 14:35 / EZE7606 = ABZ 15:30 – LBA 16:45 = JS41
EZE7605 = LBA 17:40 – ABZ 18:55 / EZE7608 = ABZ 19:25 – LBA 20:40 = JS41

EZE7600 = LBA 06:50 – SOU 08:10 / EZE7603 = SOU 11:30 – LBA 12:50 = JS41
EZE7604 = LBA 14:00 – SOU 15:20 / EZE7605 = SOU 15:50 – LBA 17:10 = JS41
EZE7606 = LBA 17:15 – SOU 18:35 / EZE7607 = SOU 19:05 – LBA 20:25 = JS41

Sundays
EZE7606 = LBA 16:50 – SOU 18:05 / EZE7605 = SOU 18:45 – LBA 19:55 = 2000
EZE7605 = LBA 20:20 – ABZ 21:30 / EZE7606 = ABZ 15:15 – LBA 16:25 = 2000


Aircraft schedules

Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays

Jetstream 41 = 1
EZE7609 = LBA 06:45 – ABZ 07:55
EZE7602 = ABZ 08:25 – LBA 09:40 / EZE7602 = LBA 10:10 – SOU 11:30
EZE7603 = SOU 12:00 – LBA 13:20
EZE7604 = LBA 14:00 – SOU 15:20
EZE7605 = SOU 15:50 – LBA 17:10 / EZE7605 = LBA 17:40 – ABZ 18:55
EZE7608 = ABZ 19:25 – LBA 20:40

Jetstream 41 = 2
EZE7600 = LBA 06:50 – SOU 08:10
EZE7601 = SOU 08:40 – LBA 10:00 / EZE7601 = LBA 10:30 – ABZ 11:45
EZE7606 = ABZ 15:30 – LBA 16:45 / EZE7606 = LBA 17:15 – SOU 18:35
EZE7607 = SOU 19:05 – LBA 20:25

Wednesdays
Jetstream 41 = 1
EZE7609 = LBA 06:45 – ABZ 07:55
EZE7602 = ABZ 08:25 – LBA 09:40 / EZE7602 = LBA 10:10 – SOU 11:30
EZE7605 = SOU 15:50 – LBA 17:10 / EZE7605 = LBA 17:40 – ABZ 18:55
EZE7608 = ABZ 19:25 – LBA 20:40
Jetstream 41 = 2
EZE7600 = LBA 06:50 – SOU 08:10
EZE7601 = SOU 08:40 – LBA 10:00 / EZE7601 = LBA 10:30 – ABZ 11:45
EZE7606 = ABZ 15:30 – LBA 16:45 / EZE7606 = LBA 17:15 – SOU 18:35
EZE7607 = SOU 19:05 – LBA 20:25

Fridays
Jetstream 41 = 1
EZE7600 = LBA 06:50 – SOU 08:10
EZE7603 = SOU 11:30 – LBA 12:50 / EZE7603 = LBA 13:20 – ABZ 14:35
EZE7606 = ABZ 15:30 – LBA 16:45 / EZE7606 = LBA 17:15 – SOU 18:35
EZE7607 = SOU 19:05 – LBA 20:25
Jetstream 41 = 2
EZE7604 = LBA 14:00 – SOU 15:20
EZE7605 = SOU 15:50 – LBA 17:10 / EZE7605 = LBA 17:40 – ABZ 18:55
EZE7608 = ABZ 19:25 – LBA 20:40

Sundays
Saab 20000
EZE7606 = ABZ 15:15 – LBA 16:25 / EZE7606 = LBA 16:50 – SOU 18:05
EZE7605 = SOU 18:45 – LBA 19:55/ EZE7605 = LBA 20:20 – ABZ 21:30

Shame the isn't really any gaps in the schedule to fit in a early morning & late evening Glasgow flights without having to base a further 3rd aircraft at LBA

 

[lbaspotter]

Eastern Airways took delivery of the 1st of 2 brand new ATR72's today direct from Toulouse. The aircraft serial numbers are MSN1448 and MSN1482 which are being leased from Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) and will operate on the airlines Aberdeen to Scatsta (Shetland Isles) oil contract charter services.

 

[imagineif]

I really smell something more substantial than the franchise scope originally announced.

Word on the street is that all crew (regardless of base) are getting a full flybe uniform and have had to do sales training.

If it's just 4 aircraft in flybe colours and a code-share on other routes why would all that be taking place. I think Eastern may end up very purple - and an aircraft operator only. Flybe "operated by Eastern Airways" for the entire network and fleet.

I suspect the comp service and bags is all going and it will be the Flybe BOB concept, with that I think we will see a reduction in fares and disposal of the J41 and Saab's will be high on the priority list. I hope that doesn't make too many routes no longer viable going forward.

A shame if that is the case, Eastern has done amazing to last this long in the regional market. Inheriting routes from Air UK/KLM uk then more routes and J41's from British Airways - Air Kilroe went from a tiny spec at Humberside to a national carrier in just a few short years.

If it wasn't for Eastern, Leeds would have lost key routes when BA pulled the plug all those years ago.

Unfortunately, performance as we all know - has been abysmal recently. Delays and cancellations a regular occurrence and if you are paying £300 for a regional flight and loosing time and business as a result - its going to ware thin. I think regular passengers would be more appreciative of better performance in exchange for a free biscuit... and day return business passengers probably wouldn't even be affected by hold baggage charges.

The next few months will be interesting.

 

[Jerry]

If all of Easterns scheduled routes get included in the franchise agreement then they'll cease to sell the Eastern product and sell the Flybe one instead. So hence the uniforms and training and it'll be a BOB service unless you purchase the All In ticket. It'll be interesting to see if they keep some of there smaller routes with that.
I did read somewhere that Eastern were looking at ATR 42s as replacements for the Saabs and J41s and with the ATR 72s they have that'll give them more fleet commonality in the long run.

 

[twevsmiff]

Eastern Airways took delivery of the 1st of 2 brand new ATR72's today direct from Toulouse. The aircraft serial numbers are MSN1448 and MSN1482 which are being leased from Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) and will operate on the airlines Aberdeen to Scatsta (Shetland Isles) oil contract charter services.

ATR 72 -212A(600) 1448 G-IACY Eastern Airways delivery 09sep17 TLS-LFBF, for paint ex F-WWEU

 

[lbaspotter]

Eastern Airways Leeds/Bradford flighys to both Aberdeen and Southampton should start to be available to book on its franchise partner website www.flybe.com very shortly.