Qatar Airways

[ethanegcc]

Yes I hope both airports continue to prosper! As I have said before any growth in BHX or MAN is better than in London and I think we are starting to prove to LHR and BA in particular the regions are more than just charter flights to Malaga or Orlando!

The thing for MAN is that aswell as having catchment south of MAN in Cheshire and North Staffordshire it really does have the monopoly north of the city and trains run frequently into Manchester Airport from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, York, Newcastle etc.

I live in the Staffordshire Moorlands. MAN is my home airport as it is only half an hour away and it always will be. I am so proud of it's achievements.
On the other hand it is only 1hr and a half to BHX. I would be happy to fly from either airports and if I wanted to go to Delhi for example I would be more than happy to drive down to BHX to get the flight. I am sure people living nearer to BHX wouldn't mind travelling up to MAN to go to PEK, HKG or SIN - anything to avoid the chaos of London. And whilst I wish MAN had a direct India flight and I am sure you wish BHX had a direct PEK flight (both of which look likely in the future) what is the hardship in a couple of hours in the car?

We should all be proud to have two prospering airports so close to us, proving that London isn't the be all and end all. None of us should hold a grudge just because 'BHX have got Czech Airlines and MAN haven't' or 'MAN have got Etihad and BHX haven't'.

The airports are great competitors but it doesn't mean the passengers have to be. The fact that MAN and BHX have such a competition is benefitting us - feeding off of eachother's achievements and blossoming. Let's help and be happy for eachother and whilst it is brilliant to see our home airport flourish if either airport gets a new direct link surely it can only benefit us as passengers. Having more options to get to a certain place is what globalisation is all about.

Let's end the ubiquitous bickering and debate - while a bit of friendly competition can help both airports and is good to have!

 

[richard winterbourn]

Ethanegcc I think you should read my post again. It is not bickereing, as i started by saying MAN was, is and always will be much bigger than BHX. It is the demographics that are changing. As i see it MAN's catchment area will remain largely the same as it has always been, both in terms of north, south, east and west. It is BHX's catchment area that is changing by extending further to the south, in part due to the airport's growing profile. And it is this change that i believe will prime a rapid increase in pax over the coming years -- at least until there is further runway capacity in the South East.

 

[ethanegcc]

Ethanegcc I think you should read my post again. It is not bickereing, as i started by saying MAN was, is and always will be much bigger than BHX. It is the demographics that are changing. As i see it MAN's catchment area will remain largely the same as it has always been, both in terms of north, south, east and west. It is BHX's catchment area that is changing by extending further to the south, in part due to the airport's growing profile. And it is this change that i believe will prime a rapid increase in pax over the coming years -- at least until there is further runway capacity in the South East.

No don't worry I wasn't specifically or intentionally writing that comment to you - just in general! I most certainly was not accusing you and I too understand that it is annoying that some people take your post way too seriously or the wrong way but I didn't I completely understood whay you were trying to say.

 

[nwoody2001]

Yes I hope both airports continue to prosper! As I have said before any growth in BHX or MAN is better than in London and I think we are starting to prove to LHR and BA in particular the regions are more than just charter flights to Malaga or Orlando!

The thing for MAN is that aswell as having catchment south of MAN in Cheshire and North Staffordshire it really does have the monopoly north of the city and trains run frequently into Manchester Airport from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, York, Newcastle etc.

I live in the Staffordshire Moorlands. MAN is my home airport as it is only half an hour away and it always will be. I am so proud of it's achievements.
On the other hand it is only 1hr and a half to BHX. I would be happy to fly from either airports and if I wanted to go to Delhi for example I would be more than happy to drive down to BHX to get the flight. I am sure people living nearer to BHX wouldn't mind travelling up to MAN to go to PEK, HKG or SIN - anything to avoid the chaos of London. And whilst I wish MAN had a direct India flight and I am sure you wish BHX had a direct PEK flight (both of which look likely in the future) what is the hardship in a couple of hours in the car?

We should all be proud to have two prospering airports so close to us, proving that London isn't the be all and end all. None of us should hold a grudge just because 'BHX have got Czech Airlines and MAN haven't' or 'MAN have got Etihad and BHX haven't'.

The airports are great competitors but it doesn't mean the passengers have to be. The fact that MAN and BHX have such a competition is benefitting us - feeding off of eachother's achievements and blossoming. Let's help and be happy for eachother and whilst it is brilliant to see our home airport flourish if either airport gets a new direct link surely it can only benefit us as passengers. Having more options to get to a certain place is what globalisation is all about.

Let's end the ubiquitous bickering and debate - while a bit of friendly competition can help both airports and is good to have!

I great post....

 

[ethanegcc]

I great post....

Why thank you nwoody2001!

 

[Brum X]

Ethanegcc, posting stuff like I think though ultimately" MAN is the bigger airport with the larger cachment area" on a BHX forum is going to start a debate. Just saying but yeah I agree, lets celebrate the success of both airports.

 

[ethanegcc]

Ethanegcc, posting stuff like I think though ultimately" MAN is the bigger airport with the larger cachment area" on a BHX forum is going to start a debate. Just saying but yeah I agree, lets celebrate the success of both airports.

Well it is fact that MAN is the bigger airport but I don't mean to start a debate! We should celebrate the success of two of the biggest airports in the UK Regions!

 

[Ray Finkle]

And now that we're all friends again how about getting back to Qatar Airways?

 

[JENNYJET]

What is the hardship of a couple of hours in the car Ethangcc says! When it involves the M6 from the West Midlands going North, a couple of hours may become a missed flight, delivery slot, business appointment, simply because someone closes the road for everyone due to an 'accident'.

I was a delivery driver and of all roads within these islands, the M6 between Coventry and the Lymm interchange was the worst to navigate, even during the trucking hours of darkness.

The same could be said of the M40 between Oxford and the M25 interchange.

To my own selfish Midlander mind, BHX is the perfect Airport and it has a wonderful offering. It could be much better if only some serious space management were deployed to handle the expected increase in services.

 

[JENNYJET]

And now that we're all friends again how about getting back to Qatar Airways?

Your wish is my duty.

In your opinion, is there likely to be a change of frequency to accommodate larger aircraft any time in the future? Just to get back on topic you understand Sir Raymond!!!!

 

[ethanegcc]

What is the hardship of a couple of hours in the car Ethangcc says! When it involves the M6 from the West Midlands going North, a couple of hours may become a missed flight, delivery slot, business appointment, simply because someone closes the road for everyone due to an 'accident'.

I was a delivery driver and of all roads within these islands, the M6 between Coventry and the Lymm interchange was the worst to navigate, even during the trucking hours of darkness.

The same could be said of the M40 between Oxford and the M25 interchange.

To my own selfish Midlander mind, BHX is the perfect Airport and it has a wonderful offering. It could be much better if only some serious space management were deployed to handle the expected increase in services.

That is quite selfish really as BHX may be the perfect airport for those who live in Birmingham but those who live in Manchester have then got to do the same journey you just effectively described as a hardship. And what about all those north of Manchester in Cumbria for example?

There can not be one 'perfect airport'. Every airport has it's flaws and it's positive points. If you want to critisize my comments feel free but I am not debating who has the 'perfect airport' because no one does.

I am going to stick to my word and not display and scrutinize other people's comments with an exclamation mark suggesting they are completely incompetent and haven't an idea what they are talking about or debate who has the better airport.

Besides, this thread is getting really off topic from Qatar Airways. I thought I was writing my post to stop this sort of petty criticism of people's comments and statement of whose airport is better but some obviously haven't got the jist of what I was implying so I do question myself - why try to promote pride of both airports and no debate of whose airport is better when some obivously want to take umbridge and still provoke negative attitudes with selfish statements?

I remain apologetic that this does not follow the Qatar Airways theme but a) a car accident is a one off incident - you should spend your time offering condolences to those who sometimes die in car incidents. If you had just been involved in a car accident the least of your worries would be some person you had never met being late for a flight. Some incidents would actually require a road closure.

 

[Ray Finkle]

And that will be the last word on the topic, any further posts on this thread that are not about Qatar Airways will be deleted.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Your wish is my duty.

In your opinion, is there likely to be a change of frequency to accommodate larger aircraft any time in the future? Just to get back on topic you understand Sir Raymond!!!!

I think that it's only a matter of time but it's still very early days.

Some people have suggested that we'll see a capacity increase as soon as this winter, personally I think that is too soon. The service is only four months old and is competing with a lot of extra capacity elsewhere which all needs time to grow.

I wouldn't bet against seeing something more for the second half of 2017 though.

 

[Paulsstrange]

I'm personally hoping Qatar go 10 or 14 weekly during 2017. I think if EK were to upgrade any further they may respond.
I also expect Eithiad are watching carefully...

 

[David_itl]

I too would think boosting frequency to a minimum of 10 weekly is what they will look at doing during the course of the next 12 months. I wouldn't be at all surprised that the ME3 BHX development will start to resemble what happened at MAN: 1 airline announces something, airline 2 tops it then airline 3 usurps the other 2 with their own annonucement, all within the space of a couple of months

 

[Paulsstrange]

I too would think boosting frequency to a minimum of 10 weekly is what they will look at doing during the course of the next 12 months. I wouldn't be at all surprised that the ME3 BHX development will start to resemble what happened at MAN: 1 airline announces something, airline 2 tops it then airline 3 usurps the other 2 with their own annonucement, all within the space of a couple of months

Odds on that happening I'd say are quite high...fingers crossed non doubt given time all 3 could survive at BHX.

 

[User001]

Seems the 8th weekly has been removed for the summer season next year.

I did say this would happen. It starts as 'aircraft shortages' and then you have to wait ages to get your original frequency back.

Not a huge loss but it does surely postpone any further increases to 10-14 weekly.

 

[Coathanger16]

Would Qatar increase frequency using the same type of aircraft or a different type? They currently use a 788, but Qatar have had all of their orders of these aircraft delivered. Their recent announcement of ordering 30 789 is promising - would expect existing 788 routes to be upgraded to the 789 to allow the 788 to be used for new routes/frequencies - although these probably won't enter service until at least the end of 2018, even into 2019.

Considering Emirates are switching their A380 flight to the evening service in order to provide better connections at Dubai, may this suggest the A380 hasn't performed as well as they'd hoped? (at least on the lunchtime service) It certainly raises doubt on Emirates upgrading a second 773 to an A380 in the near future.

Etihad have recently (within the last year) stated that they currently have no interest in serving any more regional UK airports - including Birmingham. Considering Etihad currently has over 150 widebody aircraft on order (in comparison BA's current widebody fleet is ~140), I would expect to eventually see them at BHX, however I wouldn't expect it until the end of the decade.

 

[ethanegcc]

I am sure BHX may see a second 388 but not in the near future. The swap leads me to think EK will attempt the evening flight and see what the loads are like - whether they can make more or less profit on the evening flight. Apparently, it is also better for connections.

I think Qatar would remain with the 788 as their business model for BHX is primarily connections, I think any expansion would be done through an addition of three/four weekly 788 flights at a different time to the current. However, I think the 789 is the ideal aircraft for QR to expand at BHX when it arrives.

As for Etihad, they definitely have a place in BHX, they just haven't found it yet. They need to consolidate EDI and assess the long term performance and they have an inferior place at MAN (lowest frequency out of all ME3 carriers) so it would take great stability, demand and guts on EY's part to launch BHX, but I think they will. I think by 2020 when Brexit has come and gone, the BHX market is growing, EY will start a daily 787-9 2 class or even a 332 to begin with.

What BHX has got to be careful of is a too much too soon phonomenon. MAN is reaching its plateau with ME flights, after the introduction of daily Oman Air, only EY and SV will increase in frequency and there is a slim possibility of a fourth EK 77W to make up for lost cargo capacity, however BHX is just beginning and I think QR will eventually go two daily and EK two daily 388 with EY eventually kicking itself for not entering the market sooner. EK and QR will have built up a loyal customer base in BHX by the time EY instigates any expansion. James Hogan is much more conservative in his expansion plans than QR and EK.

 

[ronnoc1k8]

I'm sure the A380 has performed really well on the lunchtime service, it has been reported on here many times that load factors are above 600 on many days.