2017

[Ray Finkle]

As we've had a thread for the last few years here's what happening for 2017. Hopefully there is still more to be added.

I realise that Cobalt to Larnaca and Blue Air to Cluj are technically this year but as they started so late they're pretty much as good as new routes for next year.

If I've missed anything please add it 🙂

2017

Blue Air - New routes to Cluj-Napoca (3x weekly) and Larnaca (3x weekly). Bucharest +1 weekly.

BMI Regional - New based aircraft with routes to Graz (2x weekly), Gothenburg and Nuremburg.

British Airways - Four new weekly routes Palma, Ibiza, Malaga and Florence.

Czech Airlines - Prague increased to daily (+2x weekly).

Cobalt Air - New route to Larnaca 2x weekly.

Eurowings - New route to Vienna (6x weekly).

Fly One - New route to Chisinau 3x weekly.

Jet2 - New base with 4x 737-800's and 22 new routes.

ALC 5x weekly from March 31st going daily mid May.
HER 2x weekly from April 30th.
PFO 2x weekly from April 2nd
FAO 5x weekly from March 30th going daily mid May.
FUE 3x weekly from April 2nd.
GRO 2x weekly from April 28th.
LPA 2x weekly from April 1st.
IBZ 4x wekly from 27th March going 6x weekly mid May.
ACE 3x weekly from April 1st.
PMI 5x weekly from March 31st going daily from mid May.
AGP 5x weekly from March 30th going 6x weekly mid May.
MAH 2x weekly from April 29th.
REU 3x weekly from April 29th.
RHO 2x weekly from April 27th.
TFS 4x weekly from March 31st.

W17

Salzburg weekly
Krakow 2x weekly
Prague 2x weekly
Geneva 3x weekly
Grenoble weekly
Turin weekly
Funchal weekly

Monarch - New routes to Stockholm (3x weekly), Naples (2x weekly), Valencia (2x weekly), Split (2x weekly), Rhodes (weekly) and Porto (3x weekly)

Thomas Cook - New routes to Sal, Malta, Naples and Comiso. Mytilene returns.

Thomson - New routes to Phuket and Goa for winter. Punta Cana +1 weekly for summer. New routes to Alghero and Almeria.

Ryanair - New routes to Porto (2x weekly), Chania (2x weekly), Girona (3x weekly) and Reus (2x weekly). New summer routes to Sofia (3x weekly) and Warsaw (3x weekly). Faro +3x weekly, Ibiza +4x weekly, Palma +4x weekly, Tenerife +1x weekly and Las Palmas +1x weekly.

Vueling - New route to Paris - Orly (6x weekly A321).

Wizz Air - Bucharest +1 weekly, Sofia +1 weekly and upgraded to an A321, Warsaw upgraded to an A321.

 

[Paulsstrange]

Brilliant list Ray think you have got them all there....hopefully more may follow

 

[thunderchild]

Perhaps also worth noting Thomson and Thomas Cook resuming Sharm el Sheikh next summer.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Has that been confirmed now?

I know that Monarch were pushing for a resumption.

 

[thunderchild]

Well the Thomson/Thomas Cook resumptions are all sourced on Wiki although I haven't looked myself. No news on Monarch returning as yet though.

 

[Ashley]

Ray, received e-mail from First Choice Holidays yesterday and looking at their All Inclusive deals from BHX Sharm el Sheikh was coming up just under £700 pp.

 

[User001]

SSH holidays are tentatively on sale in anticipation of the ban being lifted, but as of yet, it isn't being lifted so may get cancelled.

 

[Daza]

With the return of Vienna there here will be far fewer holes in Birmingham's European network in 2017, the marketing team are really delivering!
Daza

 

[thunderchild]

With the return of Vienna there here will be far fewer holes in Birmingham's European network in 2017, the marketing team are really delivering!

Indeed, and while some cities may still be considered underserved it's only really Helsinki, Oslo and Riga that remain the obvious missing capitals. Plenty of secondary cities left but let's not get TOO greedy!

 

[Daza]

I do wonder if Oslo is viable from BHX? FR, BE and Maersk's/Duo have tried and failed. Maybe BE could try again with a start in summer? Helsinki with its China/Far East connections would work IMHO.
2017 could be interesting the change politically worldwide means BHX will have to work hard not only to attract new routes, but also to retain them.
Daza

 

[58terminus]

I do wonder if Oslo is viable from BHX? FR, BE and Maersk's/Duo have tried and failed

It would be interesting to know more about the performances on this route.Weren't FR flying low frequency to somewhere near Oslo only on their flat Earth map?
BE seemed to have good loads but dropped it because................because they are BE.
The less said about Duo the better apart from great livery.
I have no idea how Maersk performed,but as it was frequent and a BA franchise that would be a good guide albeit a few years ago.

 

[Daza]

Yes FR flew to an airport about 70kms from Oslo Torp I think? Flybe initially planned daily OSL flights these were scaled back to four a week I believe loads averaged 50%, though unless its being served by a low fares airline crude numbers are no indication of how a route is performing. I think FR and D8 aircraft are too large for routes like this ex BHX filling 180 seats even two or three times a week could be difficult, I do agree that Birmingham is a different city now the fastest growing city for overseas visitors in U.K. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/Birmingham-is-fastest-growing-destination/
So maybe worth another try?

 

[ethanegcc]

Does BHX have ATH served by any other airline other than the summer seasonal and somewhat 'precariously placed to return' Aegean route? This could be one worth getting some back-up for?

 

[Ray Finkle]

I think FR and D8 aircraft are too large for routes like this ex BHX filling 180 seats even two or three times a week could be difficult,

I thought the same about Stockholm but Monarch are giving it a go 🙂

One thing Norwegian would offer is connections onto their wider network, including long haul, with their low prices I think OSL could do well for them.

 

[Daza]

Hi Ray I too have concerns about MON ARN are they planning to use A320? Again ARN has been tried Skywings and SK, though the latter suffered from continual schedule changes, aircraft change and didn't operate for months at a time. I hope these services work, I guess the change from small regular business based services from airports like BHX have given way to less frequent low fair services with larger aircraft.
Daza

 

[jfy1999]

I thought I would look at the weekly seat capacity in 2017 on ten routes that represented big gaps in our European network just two years ago (Prague shows the capacity that should be available by summer 2018).

Bucharest – 4 weekly Blue Air B734 (170 seats—most often used) + 3 weekly Wizz A320 (180 seats) = 2,440 seats but varies with Blue Air aircraft

Budapest – 3 weekly Wizz A320 (180 seats) = 1,080 seats

Lisbon – 4 weekly Monarch A320/A321 (174/214 seats) = 1,392—1,712 seats

Madrid – 4 weekly Iberia Express A320 (180 seats) + 3 weekly Monarch A320/A321 (174/214 seats) + 4 weekly Ryanair B738 (189 seats) = 3,996—4,236 seats

Porto – 3 weekly Monarch A320/ A321 (174/214 seats) + 2 weekly Ryanair B738 (189 seats) = 1,880—1,960 seats

Prague – Daily Czech A319 (135 seats) + 2 weekly Jet2 B738 (189 seats) = 2,646 seats

Sofia – 3 weekly Ryanair B738 (189 seats) + 3 weekly Wizz A321 (230 seats) = 2,514 seats

Stockholm – 3 weekly Monarch A320/A321 (174/214 seats) = 1,044—1,284 seats

Vienna – 6 weekly Eurowings A320 (180 seats) = 2,160 seats

Warsaw – 3 weekly Ryanair B738 (189 seats) + 3 weekly Wizz A321 (230 seats) = 2,514 seats

Depending on aircraft BHX will get between 21,660 and 22,540 seats per week on these 10 routes combined which would total well over 1.1m seats per annum if frequencies stayed the same all year. And those are just 10 city destinations that were previously unserved, no idea how much has been added on the bucket and spade routes or on existing routes 🙂

 

[ronnoc1k8]

Hopefully we get a secure China flight and we secure at least one American city other than New York.

 

[nwoody2001]

So unless I am very much mistaken, if we factor the useful list Ray has completed for us, it would appear that 2017 is looking at 42x new routes (again accepting that the Cluj and Larnaca links have started so late in 2016 that they are practically new for 2017...

could we make it to 50 new routes in the next few weeks?


Blue Air

1. Cluj-Napoca (3x weekly)- NEW DESTINATION
2. Larnaca (3x weekly)

BMI Regional

3. Graz (2x weekly) - NEW DESTINATION

Cobalt Air

4. Larnaca (2x weekly)

Eurowings

5. Vienna (6x weekly)- NEW DESTINATION

Fly One

6. Chisinau (3x weekly)- NEW DESTINATION

Jet2.com (Summer)

7. Alicante (7x weekly)
8. Faro (7x weekly)
9. Fuerteventura (3x weekly)
10. Gerona (Barcelona) (2x weekly)
11. Gran Canaria (2x weekly)
12. Heraklion (2x weekly)
13. Ibiza (6x weekly)
14. Lanzarote (3x weekly)
15. Majorca (7x weekly)
16. Malaga (6x weekly)
17. Menorca (2x weekly)
18. Paphos (2x weekly)
19. Reus (Barcelona) (3x weekly)
20. Rhodes (2x weekly)
21. Tenerife (4x weekly)

Jet2.com (Winter)

22. Geneva (3x weekly)
23. Grenoble (1x weekly)
24. Krakow (2x weekly)
25. Madeira (1x weekly)
26. Prague (2x weekly)
27. Salzburg (1x weekly)
28. Turin (1x weekly)

Monarch

29. Stockholm (3x weekly)- NEW DESTINATION
30. Porto (3x weekly)- NEW DESTINATION

Thomas Cook

31. Comiso (1x weekly)- NEW DESTINATION
32. Malta (1x weekly)
33. Naples (1x weekly)
34. Sal (1x weekly)

Thomson

35. Alghero (1x weekly)
36. Goa (1x 2weekly)- NEW DESTINATION
37. Phuket (1x 2weekly)- NEW DESTINATION

Ryanair

38. Chania (2x weekly)
39. Girona (Barcelona) (3x weekly)
40. Porto (2x weekly)- NEW DESTINATION
41. Reus (Barcelona) (2x weekly)

Vueling

42. Paris (Orly) (6x weekly)- NEW DESTINATION

 

[Coathanger16]

Very nice.

Any idea how many extra flights/seats that equates to?

 

[Ray Finkle]

Budapest – 3 weekly Wizz A320 (180 seats) = 1,080 seats

This one really stands out to me as ripe for a little more. Hopefully Wizz may have a frequency increase in store for next year, if not then maybe Jet2 could have a go.

Very nice.

Any idea how many extra flights/seats that equates to?

Very rough guess, 1.4 million? I'm sure that Jet2 alone are adding around 900k.