This topic seems to keep reappearing every time things go a bit quiet.
BRS has done incredibly well in its growth and will continue to do so subject to its expansion plans coming to fruition. Theres no doubt that EZY has been a clear winner in helping those plans, probably now accounting for over half of BRS passenger figures. Most would say that CWL, although considered, was never in with a chance of attracting Go who became EZY. Whilst BRS has lost routes and Airlines, CWL has been most unfortunate in its luck over that past 15 or so years.
Bmibaby
Had bmibaby been in a better position both financially and operationally to compete then I'm sure CWL would still be sustaining a 3 maybe even 4 aircraft base. If they were still around in 2019 their fortunes may be better but they didn't make it through the downturn and internal complications with their ownership. There were several routes that they operated profitably during the summer that I'm surprised no-one has taken on.
Air Wales
Had Air Wales made it through the downturn, we still may have had a dedicated Airline mirroring the routes that Flybe operate, maybe a few more.
But clearly the above 2 were small fish in a big pond.
Theres also Zoom, Travel City, Globespan (that never started but planned to switch from BRS) and Monarch, all casualties of the financial downturn. None of which would provided masses of expansion but all of which at the time had no direct competition from BRS.
Add on to that a number a failed Tour Operators that provided decent capacity. One being Goldtrail and the other I forget the name of but was offering similar holidays to Goldtrail to the likes of Turkey and Greece.
So although CWL was probably slow on the uptake and poorly managed from the late 2000s, CWL has also had some bad luck in the Airlines and Tour Operators its attracted in the past going under. The noticable difference is BRS managed to attract the strong healthy Airlines that are still around today. CWL has a lot of work to do, in very tough times for Airlines, to attract new carriers that are in a stable position.
My best are on FR expansion next.
BRS has done incredibly well in its growth and will continue to do so subject to its expansion plans coming to fruition. Theres no doubt that EZY has been a clear winner in helping those plans, probably now accounting for over half of BRS passenger figures. Most would say that CWL, although considered, was never in with a chance of attracting Go who became EZY. Whilst BRS has lost routes and Airlines, CWL has been most unfortunate in its luck over that past 15 or so years.
Bmibaby
Had bmibaby been in a better position both financially and operationally to compete then I'm sure CWL would still be sustaining a 3 maybe even 4 aircraft base. If they were still around in 2019 their fortunes may be better but they didn't make it through the downturn and internal complications with their ownership. There were several routes that they operated profitably during the summer that I'm surprised no-one has taken on.
Air Wales
Had Air Wales made it through the downturn, we still may have had a dedicated Airline mirroring the routes that Flybe operate, maybe a few more.
But clearly the above 2 were small fish in a big pond.
Theres also Zoom, Travel City, Globespan (that never started but planned to switch from BRS) and Monarch, all casualties of the financial downturn. None of which would provided masses of expansion but all of which at the time had no direct competition from BRS.
Add on to that a number a failed Tour Operators that provided decent capacity. One being Goldtrail and the other I forget the name of but was offering similar holidays to Goldtrail to the likes of Turkey and Greece.
So although CWL was probably slow on the uptake and poorly managed from the late 2000s, CWL has also had some bad luck in the Airlines and Tour Operators its attracted in the past going under. The noticable difference is BRS managed to attract the strong healthy Airlines that are still around today. CWL has a lot of work to do, in very tough times for Airlines, to attract new carriers that are in a stable position.
My best are on FR expansion next.