Birmingham: Emirates Flight Status, Hub News & Discussion

[IanFarquharson]

What aircraft are they using

B77W

EK40 today (Monday) is overbooked in Y class

 

[RichL]

A6-EVA is the second A388 to be reconfigured in the "C76W56Y437" configuration, hope to see that here again soon.

Today.

But don't let me derail the thread from REAL Emirates news.

 

[Ray Finkle]

You try to put in simple a system to find a middle ground which keeps everyone happy and it's still not enough.

If anyone is interested in taking over as the Mod of the BHX forum then let the site owner know as I'm getting to the point where I've had enough,

 

[RichL]

Good afternoon Ray

It isn't about you giving up the moderation. What I took issue with was the suggestion that a bit of light-hearted back-and-forth over registration numbers, in what is (in my opinion) a very quiet thread, was somehow discouraging some of the forum's more knowledgeable members from posting updates about Emirates.

I quote

I have noticed some long standing and informative members have reduced or stopped contributing although I don't really like to name folk but Matt995 and Brumx for example spring to mind amongst others maybe its just the pointless and repetitiveness of the same things at times.

That's actually why I stopped posting in the thread for a while and I appreciate that the comment in question wasn't yours either. The reality is that those long-standing members weren't posting updates because there simply weren't any Emirates updates to post.

If the thread has reached the point where the discussion is genuinely considered "pointless and repetitive," then perhaps it would make more sense to lock it until there's something tangible to discuss. If that's not an option, then let it naturally fall down the forum until news picks up again. As I said previously, in my view, the thread has been effectively dormant for quite some time.

 

[Ray Finkle]

The thread has been dormant as there hasn't been any real news of interest until recently. We have threads for Loganair, SAS, Swiss etc that have also had no posts for some years for the same reason. I could lock them all but if/when there is some actual news people wouldn't be able to post it until I unlocked it again, which could be a while if I'm away for whatever reason.

If posting 'expected movements' in the 'expected movements thread' isn't what people want then that's fine by me. I really don't care either way. I'm just trying to find a common ground that keeps everyone happy.

I guess the question is do we want every EK aircraft due bumping the EK thread, every new Turkish A321 bumping the TK thread, every QR 787 bumping the QR thread, a different Saudi 78X bumping the SV thread, a new Jet2 NEO bumping the Jet2 thread.....etc....etc or would it be much simpler if all movements are in one place?

Maybe someone can start a poll and we'll go with the majority?

If the thread has reached the point where the discussion is genuinely considered "pointless and repetitive," then perhaps it would make more sense to lock it until there's something tangible to discuss. If that's not an option, then let it naturally fall down the forum until news picks up again.

Maybe you could take over from me 😁

 

[rollo]

Hi RichL.

I notice you have quoted a post by me to make your point which is fine by me. My post was in direct response agreeing to another members post.

If you qoute people maybe post the complete quote for context and not miss a bit out


I have no Issue with people posting aircraft registrations as its actual information.

 

[RichL]

Hi RichL.

I notice you have quoted a post by me to make your point which is fine by me. My post was in direct response agreeing to another members post.

If you qoute people maybe post the complete quote for context and not miss a bit out


I have no Issue with people posting aircraft registrations as its actual information.

I am not sure how the multi-quote functionality works, but for clarity

Well it makes a change from reading about how useless the BHX management are, endless lists of route predictions or updated timetables because Ryanair have retimed a Marrakech flight by five minutes! These days the BHX forums are sadly nowhere near as enjoyable as they used to be.

I have noticed some long standing and informative members have reduced or stopped contributing although I don't really like to name folk but Matt995 and Brumx for example spring to mind amongst others maybe its just the pointless and repetitiveness of the same things at times.

I apologise if I have misinterpreted this; I took it at face value to mean that by posting reg numbers in this thread that it was somehow stopping more established 'in the know' members from posting their updates.

I guess the question is do we want every EK aircraft due bumping the EK thread, every new Turkish A321 bumping the TK thread, every QR 787 bumping the QR thread, a different Saudi 78X bumping the SV thread, a new Jet2 NEO bumping the Jet2 thread.....etc....etc or would it be much simpler if all movements are in one place?

Again, I had stopped for over a month and took on board if I were somehow detracting from real updates. It was only because AdamHussain7 mentioned A6-EVA wondering when it would be back that it happened to be yesterday that I actually made a post in the thread then quickly exited to avoid proper updates from being posted.

This is all getting silly however you are both welcome to have the final word if necessary but I don't think this needs to continue from my side. I've attempted to explain my reasons, I hope they are acceptable.

 

[rollo]

All fine by me life's too short 😔

 

[juliet-fox-9]

I think that even if we post a poll, not everyone will be happy with the results 😀

@Ray Finkle I agree with your guidelines but it just might take time for everyone to notice them and get used to them.

I personally will try and be more active going forward and start linking to the threads for aircraft movements / timetables in the airline threads if anyone is repeatedly bumping.

Also not pointing at anyone in particular but in the past there have sometimes been some negative responses when someone posts in the “wrong” thread without any positive encouragement to post in the right thread.

I think doing things like linking to the right thread and saying things like “Hi xxx, I’d encourage you to post so-and-so in xxx thread going forward. Many thanks” would be very helpful and hopefully avoid any negativity

 

[Birmingham Aviation]

How are loads on emirates 37/38 since returning?

 

[nwoody2001]

The EK evening departures over the last 2 nights have averaged in excess of 90%

 

[Birmingham Aviation]

The EK evening departures over the last 2 nights have averaged in excess of 90%

Thank you mate

 

[BLB777]

Expecting to see some EK reductions across the UK soon, LF's are really suffering flights barely going above 50% for outbound loads and not much better inbound either.
Wonder what will happen with BHX, LF's less than 50% as a total over two flights on the outbounds today, do you think they will keep the frequencies and reduce the seats or drop the evening service??

 

[Birmingham Aviation]

Expecting to see some EK reductions across the UK soon, LF's are really suffering flights barely going above 50% for outbound loads and not much better inbound either.
Wonder what will happen with BHX, LF's less than 50% as a total over two flights on the outbounds today, do you think they will keep the frequencies and reduce the seats or drop the evening service??

Ian and Nwoody will probably disagree and say loads have been great

 

[IanFarquharson]

It is fair to say they have dropped since the kids have gone back to school but I guess the same at all UK airports ?

 

[nwoody2001]

Ian and Nwoody will probably disagree and say loads have been great

EK Load Factors from BHX

July

EK37/38 = 62.0% (first month back at BHX)
EK39/40 = 76.3%

August

EK37/38 = 79.0%
EK39/40 = 79.1%

September

EK37/38 = 67.3% (so far)
EK39/40 = 70.4% (so far)

I think these figures are pretty decent so far, given that August was the first full month back at the full schedule. I would be shocked if there were any cuts to the UK, primarily because:

a) As of 2025, the UK was Emirates' most profitable international market. The UK has more Skywards members than any other country, including India, which is its largest market by capacity. In 2023, the UK accounted for over 50% of Emirates' revenue from Europe. This may have shifted during the Iran conflict, but regardless, the UK remains an extremely important market for Emirates.

b) Demand for travel to and through the Middle East is down globally, not just in the UK. The image of Middle Eastern airlines has been negatively impacted, and this will likely take years to fully recover.

c) Around half of the Emirates fleet consists of A380s. There are only so many routes and airports that can accommodate these aircraft, and many of them are already served. Unless Emirates is prepared to park aircraft, if not the UK, where else are they going to deploy them?

d) Emirates currently operates a fleet of around 270 aircraft and has approximately 350 more on order. The airline is in the midst of a major growth phase, with ambitions to move operations to Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) in the early 2030s.

e) Emirates is a global network airline. Its competitiveness is built around offering regular, fast and convenient connections. You do not achieve that by reducing frequencies, and with relatively few smaller aircraft in the fleet, it's difficult to reduce capacity without reducing flights.

In short, all of the major Middle Eastern airlines are in rebuild mode. It will likely take years for them to regain their "safe sun" status, and that assumes regional hostilities have fully ended, which clearly is not yet the case.

Frankly, while load factors remain below historical levels, the speed at which Emirates and Qatar Airways have recovered is nothing short of remarkable. That is especially true given that a proportion of travellers remain cautious about booking flights that connect through the Middle East.

​

 

[BLB777]

It is fair to say they have dropped since the kids have gone back to school but I guess the same at all UK airports ?

Very much so and cuts are already being made whether it's reduced seats or pushing back increases.

MAN seeing 2x a380's and 1x B777, Gatwick seeing aircraft changes too. Dublin seeing it's third daily being pushed back to December, GLA remaining on the B777 and Newcastle staying on the a359