First ever 787 to Bristol airside photos

[sierrafoxtrot]

I was invited airside by the airport to get some photos, here are some to share with you, the rest are on my Flickr album as would be too many to post here!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Great pics. Many thanks for posting them.

A couple of suspicious looking characters in the last pic!

 

[Ray Finkle]

Fantastic pictures and a real vote of confidence in Bristol

If it can make Mexico direct then the Middle East should be no problem, even with a reasonable cargo load. Hopefully Bristol may see Qatar or Etihad in the not too distant future?

 

[big g]

Fantastic pictures and a real vote of confidence in Bristol

If it can make Mexico direct then the Middle East should be no problem, even with a reasonable cargo load. Hopefully Bristol may see Qatar or Etihad in the not too distant future?

BRS is a non cargo station, so only passengers and bags. To some airlines this could make them reluctant to fly there.

 

[sierrafoxtrot]

Thanks for the replies glad you liked the photos, yes hopefully a middle eastern airline will be on the cards soon

 

[Ray Finkle]

BRS is a non cargo station, so only passengers and bags. To some airlines this could make them reluctant to fly there.

Would that be no cargo whatsoever or does a certain amount of belly freight pass through?

Thanks for the replies glad you liked the photos, yes hopefully a middle eastern airline will be on the cards soon

The UK representative for Qatar suggested that they were looking at serving the south west. Now that it's confirmed that BRS can accept the 787 I'd say it has to be a strong favourite for something?

 

[superking]

brs does take belly freight if there is any to go. the co flight used to take freight every day.

 

[big g]

The only cargo that go's out of BRS is airline aircraft spares, Dogs/Cats that travel with a passenger but in the hold and airline company mail. On the odd occasion there may be someone repatriated, technically all the above is not classed as cargo. Other than that there are no on site facilities to process cargo, 2008 was last time BRS handled cargo.

In the years I was dealing with CO the only belly cargo I'd seen go out was company mail weighing no more than 5KG

 

[TheLocalYokel]

http://www.caa.co.uk/uploadedFiles/...2_Summary_Of_Activity_at_UK_Airports_2015.pdf

The CAA summary for all UK airports' overall output in 2015 (link above) shows BRS as nil freight and just 2 tonnes of mail on charter flights.

In 2014 it was nil freight and nil mail.

I have a recollection that some years ago - it may have been as many as ten or perhaps longer - the airport freight centre was moved to Avonmouth. I could never understand how this could work and I assume it's now closed.

 

[Aviador]

So are we expecting two long haul destinations initially from Thomson with the 787
#longhaul #dreamliner #thomson

 

[sierrafoxtrot]

So are we expecting two long haul destinations initially from Thomson with the 787
#longhaul #dreamliner #thomson

Yes Mexico and Orlando on weekends from May 2017

 

[Aviador]

Do we know yet if the #Dreamliner can fly direct to places such as #Orlando and #Mexico #FlyingFromBristol ?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Do we know yet if the #Dreamliner can fly direct to places such as #Orlando and #Mexico #FlyingFromBristol ?

It seems it can, from posts elsewhere. The captain was quoted as confirming this when the Dreamliner visited BRS last week.

 

[jfy1999]

I noticed that TOM serve MBJ and DWC from CWL, but will serve CUN and SFB from BRS. Perhaps there is some logic in this "divide and conquer" mentality, as they could be waiting to see whether APD is devolved to Wales or not.

There doesn't seem to be much logic in their BHX/EMA long haul operation though, as they serve the same destinations from both, instead of following the examples of Jet2 and Monarch by getting all their routes (or long-haul routes in this case) into one airport.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It seems it can, from posts elsewhere. The captain was quoted as confirming this when the Dreamliner visited BRS last week.

Jamaica is a limited number of cruise flights. Barbados is another occasional cruise destination from CWL. Both have been running for a number of years and they operate in the winter months. BRS has also had Barbados cruise flights with TOM in the past. Al Maktoum is another series of cruise flights this winter. it's a new venture and also features BHX (I guess you know that jfy), GLA, MAN, NCL and LGW.

It's long been a peculiarity that CWL seems to be used more for cruise flights than BRS although TOM uses BRS for its Dubrovnik cruises. It may have something to do with the capability of 767s from the BRS runway. It's difficult to suggest any other reason because the BRS catchment (like BOH which does usually see a decent TOM cruise programme to the Caribbean) has numerous older people with the time and money to cruise. Cruising has never appealed to me, despite the best efforts of Mrs Yokel to get me to go, although I'm told that increasingly cruising is no longer predominantly the preserve of the older generation.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Earlier in this thread the cargo situation was discussed and it was established that BRS handles next to no cargo. Re-reading parts of the lengthy master plan - published in 2006 but BRS says the principles still apply today - I found this extract on freight. The full master plan is still available on the airport's website.

BIA maintained a Freight Centre at the Airport until the mid 1990s. Almost all the freight handled arrived by road from Heathrow and consequently the operation was relocated to Avonmouth. In recent years the operation became less and less viable and in 2004 BIA closed the facility. There is no evidence of a market for air freight either now or in the future out of Bristol. The South East airports and East Midlands Airport appear to be able to meet the South West's demands for air freight with freight transport to these airports by road. In view of this and the significant night noise issues raised by air freight operations this is a market that BIA has decided not to pursue. We also note that there are significant uncertainties associated with forward forecasting of freight demand on an airport-by-airport basis. There is no evidence to suggest that air freight services from BIA might contribute to the South West economy.