Route Development & Rumours

[mullion]

The plan from what I have heard is for people interested in history not just Mecca

 

[Karl C]

Maybe Saudia have had enough of Turkish taking a lot of traffic out of Jeddah and the surrounding airports

 

[nwoody2001]

i suspect this will be just as much as Saudi Arabia wanting to follow the UAE model to transition to a more tourist economy, key to that is having a key global feeder airlines..... with the focus just as much being about attracting people to the country as much as it is making Saudi Airlines a globally recognised brand

 

[gulftraveller]

Living in the region I think Saudi is still some way from large scale tourism. These flights will cater for Hajj and Umrah traffic but at other times will have to earn its living from connecting traffic.

 

[KJAY 786]

If Saudia does fly Birmingham UK it is RIGHT DECISSION there is - Large Muslim Community in the midlands and surrounding that need these flights also hope EL AL come Birmingham for Tel Aviv - Overall GREAT INFORMATION MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.

 

[Scania1800]

There was speculation of Newcastle on the list after recent Saudi investment in area.
These extra U.K. flights are they aimed at people flying to Jeddah or onwards from/to India Pakistan etc ?

That's gonna help saudi with revenue certainly

 

[Birmingham Aviation]

May I ask where you got this content from and all these details please?

It’s Saudia. 4 weekly B787-9 to Jeddah, morning flight. It’s an airline slot request, not a national secret. Saudia are looking to expand their UK offering and Birmingham may feature in that plan.

Post automatically merged: Dec 22, 2022

It’s Saudia. 4 weekly B787-9 to Jeddah, morning flight. It’s an airline slot request, not a national secret. Saudia are looking to expand their UK offering and Birmingham may feature in that plan.

Where were details from please

 

[IanFarquharson]

ACL slot report

 

[thunderchild]

Just catching up, if Saudi slot requests were available for all to see in the ACL report then why all the cloak and dagger?

 

[IanFarquharson]

Just catching up, if Saudi slot requests were available for all to see in the ACL report then why all the cloak and dagger?

ACL release periodic reports to general public on the website, however, if you want access to the 'live' report it is a quite expensive annual subscription. So the Saudi is not showing on the public report but is showing on the 'live' feed.

 

[JENNYJET]

HO HUM! The Midlands paradox again. Should BHX ditch scheduled long haul and concentrate on LCC and holiday charters? An endless stream of B737 OR a320 families?

 

[Kevin Farnell]

HO HUM! The Midlands paradox again. Should BHX ditch scheduled long haul and concentrate on LCC and holiday charters? An endless stream of B737 OR a320 families?

Absolutely not! BHX has some excellent long haul services, along with national carriers that other UK airports would love to have. Just look at the LBA thread where they are crying out for an AF, LH or TK service. BHX is doing well, but is still way below it's potential. I believe a new long haul service is to be announced, along with the re-instatement of a previously suspended service. Direct services to the US remain an enigma, but these can be reached with a one stop service via AMS or DUB. BHX should also be doing all it can to encourage low cost carriers.

 

[JENNYJET]

It was a rhetorical question, raising it up the flagpole. My irritation over the ownership and management of the airport is well known to some members, and I rarely see news of a new notable carrier opening a route. Cheap flights and holiday fodder is how I see BHX becoming.

 

[IanFarquharson]

It was a rhetorical question, raising it up the flagpole. My irritation over the ownership and management of the airport is well known to some members, and I rarely see news of a new notable carrier opening a route. Cheap flights and holiday fodder is how I see BHX becoming.

BHX Management are talking to airlines constantly, it is a very difficult task to get new airlines / routes and often takes years.
The last thing we need is another boom and bust where airlines were lured in by cheap daels only to leave when those deals expired.

 

[tompo]

Other airports offer ’cheap deals’ relatively speaking and tend to maintain their relationships while importantly, expanding their client services. It is much easier to look after your existing clients than expending excess energy chasing new ones.

 

[andrew.clarkson]

That's is, obviously something that Birmingham Airport management team should already be using that policy if in place, if not then its too late now to implement it.

 

[Coathanger16]

The problem with "cheap deals" is that often the airport can't provide them forever, so the risk is that when the airport changes the deal - because the service has grown to a level that the "cheap deal" is no longer needed - the airline then pulls out.

I'd much rather just have a "regular deal" that doesn't leave the airport subsidising a route, as its those routes that are more likely to stick in the long term.

 

[IanFarquharson]

That's is, obviously something that Birmingham Airport management team should already be using that policy if in place, if not then its too late now to implement it.

BHX like all airport 'do deals' otherwise you would not see Ryanair & easyjet expanding or the likes of Wizz & Vueling.

The issue is maintaining loss leading deals is not sustainable, BHX needs to make a profit !

 

[Timberwolf]

These are only slot requests.Airlines sometimes use such to either just get better deals out of current airports they already operated from.Or better deals out of airports they want to start operating from.
Last winter Kuwait Air put in for over 100 slots out of BHX.
They then announced Manchester instead and removed their Birmingham slots the same week.
So Saudia may be keen to start out of BHX ,or it could just be postering to get better deals out of Manchester or Heathrow.
We should know in the coming weeks which it is..

 

[IanFarquharson]

These are only slot requests.Airlines sometimes use such to either just get better deals out of current airports they already operated from.Or better deals out of airports they want to start operating from.
Last winter Kuwait Air put in for over 100 slots out of BHX.
They then announced Manchester instead and removed their Birmingham slots the same week.
So Saudia may be keen to start out of BHX ,or it could just be postering to get better deals out of Manchester or Heathrow.
We should know in the coming weeks which it is..

The BHX Kuwait slots were cargo not pax.