CAA Provisional Statistics Update

[Seasider]

It must be the first time that LBA has handled more passengers in a calendar year than EMA.
Also interesting is the fact that Decembers figures are only 900 down on December 2019.
I am at last beginning to feel positive for LBA future.

 

[White Heather]

It must be the first time that LBA has handled more passengers in a calendar year than EMA.
Also interesting is the fact that Decembers figures are only 900 down on December 2019.
I am at last beginning to feel positive for LBA future.

And in December 2019 we still had the BA service to LHR!

 

[Seasider]

I think the main difference is Wizz Air. I expect Jan/Feb will be higher than 2020.

 

[Scottie Dog]

.....and here, slightly delayed due to the requirement of "Mrs Scottie Dog" to be prioritised, for your edification is my take on the December data:

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View attachment 27796

 

[YorkshireLad]

A bit later this time, but an analysis of the December 2022 statistics.

As for well performing routes the obvious medal goes to Krakow. Nearly 12,000 passengers on the route in December averaging an 84.3% load factor is not to be looked down on by any means. The route to Bucharest did see a reduction from 4X to 3X weekly so pax did take a hit to only about 5,000 but the loads are good (87.3% average). Naturally the canary islands mostly did well with Tenerife and Lanzarote unsurprisingly being the 2nd and 4th busiest routes respectively. Only a slightly below expectations load factor of 78% to Fuerteventura was a shadow over the routes but it can be easily forgiven.

The seasonal routes to Berlin, Cologne and Vienna all did well and Prague had a much improved load factor of nearly 90%. The ski routes did well (ok maybe Geneva did well while Chambery and Salzburg averaged only 70% when discounting the first return). The Lapland flights were outstanding in loads with the lowest average load (Enontekio) being 97.8% and Ivalo and Pajala averaging over 99%!

The not so great:
Belfast International (68.5%) not much can be said apart from that hopefully only the low frequency and quiet time of year (excluding about 1.5 weeks) to be to blame.
Antalya (66.6%) I'm assuming not a huge amount of people think of Antalya as a year round destination and with it being a very quiet time demand is therefore lower. Hopefully either it will change or I will be proved wrong (hopefully the latter)

Overall an alright December from LBA. Loads seem to be averaging between 70% and 85% which is not the best but nevertheless encouraging that such a quiet time of year can still mostly fill flights.

 

[Severn]

UK airports saw 224m pax in 2022 still 25% down on 2019

An interesting article showing LBA was the 3rd best performing UK airport in 2022 (after BRS and STN) where passenger numbers were down just over 17% vs 2019.

 

[Scottie Dog]

Never too late for a detailed analysis.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

A bit later this time, but an analysis of the December 2022 statistics.

As for well performing routes the obvious medal goes to Krakow. Nearly 12,000 passengers on the route in December averaging an 84.3% load factor is not to be looked down on by any means. The route to Bucharest did see a reduction from 4X to 3X weekly so pax did take a hit to only about 5,000 but the loads are good (87.3% average). Naturally the canary islands mostly did well with Tenerife and Lanzarote unsurprisingly being the 2nd and 4th busiest routes respectively. Only a slightly below expectations load factor of 78% to Fuerteventura was a shadow over the routes but it can be easily forgiven.

The seasonal routes to Berlin, Cologne and Vienna all did well and Prague had a much improved load factor of nearly 90%. The ski routes did well (ok maybe Geneva did well while Chambery and Salzburg averaged only 70% when discounting the first return). The Lapland flights were outstanding in loads with the lowest average load (Enontekio) being 97.8% and Ivalo and Pajala averaging over 99%!

The not so great:
Belfast International (68.5%) not much can be said apart from that hopefully only the low frequency and quiet time of year (excluding about 1.5 weeks) to be to blame.
Antalya (66.6%) I'm assuming not a huge amount of people think of Antalya as a year round destination and with it being a very quiet time demand is therefore lower. Hopefully either it will change or I will be proved wrong (hopefully the latter)

Overall an alright December from LBA. Loads seem to be averaging between 70% and 85% which is not the best but nevertheless encouraging that such a quiet time of year can still mostly fill flights.

Great summary. Salzburg always surprises me as it serves a huge number of ski resorts and Austria is cheaper than Switzerland and has more charm than the concrete resorts of France

 

[Seasider]

Jan 2023 now out - at last 174167. Not at home, so can't compare with last year. Good start.

 

[Scottie Dog]

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View attachment 28060

 

[White Heather]

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Impressive. Should be looking at 3.55m pax by the end of March and on target to hit 4m once again this next financial year, back where we were in 2017.

 

[Finger66]

Look where VNO sits in the right hand table especially, and then what has happened to the route - FR and VNO have had a spat and route is “suspended”

 

[White Heather]

Look where VNO sits in the right hand table especially, and then what has happened to the route - FR and VNO have had a spat and route is “suspended”

Ryanair teaching VNO a lesson! All those pax from and to LBA, and BHX and probably others, lost. VNO need them more than Ryanair do, and it is probably no coincidence that the route is suspended now, a time when Ryanair are short of aircraft and have, as a result, had to temporarily remove our 3rd based aircraft.
I wouldn't mind a bet that a deal will be done and the route back for winter, unless if course Wizz find a spare aircraft and beat them to it. Or maybe both given the surge in passengers. As we have seen with Krakow, competition can be good, as long as both airlines are making money!

 

[YorkshireLad]

As we have seen with Krakow, competition can be good, as long as both airlines are making money!

Or it could end up like Wroclaw. Pax figures are up but loads aren't exactly great (sorry to be such a pessimist)

 

[White Heather]

Or it could end up like Wroclaw. Pax figures are up but loads aren't exactly great (sorry to be such a pessimist)

I think we are both saying the same thing. If pax loads aren't great and neither airline are making much money then it's a case of who gives in first, unless of course the loads improve, which they may do over the summer.

 

[Bigman]

I still can't understand why we have never had Tallinn

 

[markietg]

I still can't understand why we have never had Tallinn

Tallinn along with Vilnius is currently only served from LTN, STN & LGW. I would love to see Wizz on these routes into LBA serving the north of the country. This would also make me happy due to Tallinn being my Christmas market choice this year.

 

[Jerry]

CAA Stats for 2022
Leeds Bradford saw 3,288,635 use the airport in 2022 up 345% on 2021 (739,131). Aircraft movements was 33,912.

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

Or it could end up like Wroclaw. Pax figures are up but loads aren't exactly great (sorry to be such a pessimist)

What is the average LF across the flights? I get it's difficult to get a measurement when one airlines offering 189 seats and another 230/239. If average seats per flight was 214 what is LF based on that?

 

[YorkshireLad]

Here we go again. My analysis of the January 2023 passenger stats

As usual we will start with the good and the first route that pops up is Cluj Napoca. In November Cluj only received a 60% load factor, however in January that rose to over 80%! Bucharest was once again a good performer. 4 routes averaged over a 90% load factor - Gran Canaria, Malaga, Riga and Tenerife. The ski routes performed well with average load factors between 80 and 90% on all 3 routes. Vilnius averaged 83%. I continue to sing my praises for Krakow which ranked 5th with 10,992 passengers and an average of 81% load

The less good performers will once again be mentioned by load but I will include passengers this time as well

Katowice (3,043 pax, 68.1%): I'm not too bothered given that with an A320 on all flights average loads would be close to 85%, but it could certainly be better.
Wroclaw (4,806 pax, 63.7% (@Sherburnflyer92) 209.5 seats/flight): There really isn't anything much to say about this apart from that I had hoped for better. Even with Wizz using an A320 the loads would still be only 72%.
Belfast City (8,291 pax, 60.0%): Flybe's last month on the route, hopefully the loads will improve slightly into February
Belfast Intl (2,553 pax, 55.8%): Oh dear...
Enontekio (259 pax, 45.7%): I really think that late January is a bit late for these flights.

Wizz Air Load Factors
For the first time I have a way of gathering load factor information for all Wizz Air routes for January. Do be aware that any route marked with a * has had the figures measured in a very crude fashion and may not be accurate and may not be until the March stats come out.

Route - pax load (load factor)

Bucharest - 209 (87.6%)
Cluj Napoca - 178 (84.1%)
Gdansk* - 156 (70.2%)
Katowice - 152 (68.1%)
Krakow* - 156 (65.6%)
Warsaw Chopin - 182 (77.2*)
Wroclaw* - 101 (43.8%)

Overall, not a bad quietest month of the year from LBA. Average loads fluctuate between routes, but between 70% and 90% seems to be the norm. Looking to be a bright year ahead from LBA!

Note: Average loads on some routes may have been bolstered by a new policy in how many flights there were which states that any cancellations at all are not included in how many flights there were.