It is just beyond belief whats going on at LBA. we are talking about the city of leeds (3rd largest city and the 2nd financial hub of england) with an ever expanding city centre with new buildings going up 24/7 at the moment inc some new 25 floor plus soon to rise, and west yorks in general(4th pop). Lba should be a 2 or 3 aircraft base each for both tui and tc and the airport should be attracting at least 8million pax per year with the likes of AF,LH,SAS to major European hubs! Manchester airport is a big problem but I will say it again, the main issue is the infrastructure at Lba and esp the runway, that is the big big draw back! Most cant face the fact that's the main issue, and until something major is done, Lba will always remain the way it is! It will grow a little bit each year but other airports will leave it behind!

We can moan all we like about the runway Fight2Win but the odd thing is that so far, successive LBA owners and management teams have all said the same thing - that being that a longer runway is not viable. When cost v benefit is taken into account the finances just don't stack up and should they attempt to extend it, the negativity stirred up in local communities would be huge. Various managers at LBA have all said that the runway extension will NOT stop airlines such as TUI or TCX pulling out when the going gets tough. Nor will it result in LBA getting lots of nice new long haul routes, and the reason for that is quite simple. Manchester. It is like the Black Hole of Northern Aviation, sucking in most if not all the long haul traffic for the North West and Yorkshire. Based on your theory, Liverpool should also do better than it does, but it too tends to lose out on the Inclusive Tour market (to Manchester again) and it is largely reliant on two airlines - Ryanair and Easyjet, just as we are to Ryanair and Jet2. Liverpool has slightly more passengers than LBA but there again, it was piling up passengers with unrestricted operations when LBA was still fighting with one hand behind its back due to night time closure. In recent years we have seen LBA exceeding LPL in some months during the summer. Unfortunately for us, Easyjet operate all year round whereas Jet2 tend to vastly reduce their flying programme in winter from all airports, so LBA loses out in the winter months. Jet2's decision is financial - nothing to do with LBA, its weather or the length of the runway. They reduce their flying at all their bases.

Sometimes we just have to accept that some of the people that run airports or own them, know their business. If they don't see that spending huge sums on a runway extension (or changing the touch down point) will pay for itself any time soon, due to the presence of MAN, then it won't happen.
 
Been told that this weekends Santa Lapland charter flight which was to be operated by Thomas Cook Airlines Airbus A320 on Saturday to Ivalo as TCX1302 may have being cancelled.

Further update: The outbound flight is still showing on the airport website live departures page so it may still go ahead as the snow is now falling up that way.
 
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Exactly - which is why LBA management wish to concentrate more on securing new airlines and routes which are less holiday orientated and more business orientated - although reality is whichever route you operate there will be a mix of passengers. That would suggest more city routes on their agenda - and as we all know, we have had, then lost, quite a few over the years. Madrid, Valencia, Hamburg, Munich, Weeze, Cork, Inverness, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Copenhagen, Aberdeen and Milan to name only a few. Berlin will soon join the list. Frankly, unless a new domestic carrier emerges pretty soon (Finger66 I am thinking of you!!) I can't imagine us getting much in terms of domestic new routes, but the international options are ones that should do well on paper at least. But then there is that B word which is still causing enough uncertainty to stop airlines venturing beyond what they feel safe with.
Right here right now based on all the advice I took from necessary people, that was don't set up an airline as the current climate is all wrong. My head had to rule my heart here. That all said, the idea is parked rather than completely dead. There are a lot of factors that are killing domestic air travel, especially for an airport that sits virtually slap bang in the middle of the UK. Things will hopefully be revisited in the future but that is going to have to involve the longer sectors and also those that have a major surface hindrance to get over - that being a stretch of water. The other major piece of advice I was given was not to fly anything less than 50 seats at once. This on top of other things changed the financing requirements massively and now is just completely the wrong time to risk what would be everything. There is clearly a business model that will work but unless someone suddenly changes their mind and throws the required money at me (highly unlikely in the current climate) then we are going to have to wait a little longer for take off. But rest assured I haven't given up hope but equally am not going to make any false promises right now. LBA has a future to play in any plans and would remain the primary focus but there may be a need to look elsewhere too (definitely not instead) to make things a big enough operation to make the numbers all add up.
 
morning all
this morning 31/12 went into x gates arndale and noticed VERY large notice in the window saying fly from LBA for summer 2019 with various airlines, went to the window to look,4 destinations from man and 3 from leeds greece,portugal,and menorca, so went inside to ask about portugal and asked which airline,was told easy-jet or ryan air they had not made there minds up yet, i think this is one big con to get people to book and then transfer them to man,if any of you reading this would you please ring thomas cooks shop in the arndale centre at cross gates and see what you can find out.
all the best for the new year
sm1
 
Marketing ploy by the travel agent to get you interested and into the shop, then tell you best prices are from Manchester. The problem is that some people will fall for it.
 
seasider
the sign in the window was not home made and the colors matched other signs in the shop.
regards
sm1
 
I wasn't suggesting that it was a ploy by the local shop. The fact that it appeared to be a "Thomas Cook official" sign just reinforces it for me that it is a ploy to get you in and then sell you a holiday from Manchester - their main base.
We don't have a local Thomas Cook shop so can't check it out on the East Coast.
 
Thomas Cook is now offering a hold case collection from your London Home if your flying from :LGW, prices vary from £40 for 4 cases for a three hour window collection time, to £30 for a one case, one hour window.
They hope to be able to offer nation wide as soon as possible, as one who used the Jet2 twilight service recently and is considering sending from home to our hotel as service costs for this service, now similar to airline hold charges, airlines need to respond.
In addition all the Sunday papers seem to view the sale of TC as imminent as selling the airline to stabilise the finances of the company, has not seemed to have found the right buyer.
 
Does anyone know the last time LBA didn't have a summer-based aircraft from either Thomson/TUI or Thomas Cook ? Was it within the last ten years ?
 
I maybe wrong. But think we've not had a charter airline base and aircraft at LBA during the summer season since 1994.
That's was the last summer before 24 hour operating hours were reinstated....

Over years we've had at least 1 or 2 charter aircraft based ranging from Boeing 737, 757, 767 or Airbus A320, A321.
Airlines: TUiAir/Thomson/Thomsonfly/Britannia,
Airtours/MyTravel/Thomas Cook or Air Europa, Monarch, Astraeus, bmi British Midland, Sunwing, Sky Service.

For the lack of route development I lay the blame at both the airports out going chief executive, David Laws & Aviation Development, Director Chris Sanders. I hope who ever steps in can come in and start to undo some damage that's been done...
 
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Interesting apportioning of blame there. I am not saying I agree or disagree with you there but things are certainly stagnant. With TC basically up for sale we will have to see where their new focus ends up. I think more scaling back, or a concentration on mid and long haul, so LBA may not be in the reckoning, other than perhaps for Turkey and Tunisia. Good news please anyone?
 
As an armchair critic its not for me to say who is to "blame" for the lack of route developments and the withdrawal of charter operations. We have had extremely difficult trading conditions over the past couple of years and it's easy to sit on the sidelines complaining about what could be done but playing on the field is very much different. When the reality of Brexit hits home and the pennies start to pinch, it's only going to get harder for the successors of the outgoing management.
 
I would be interested to see a full list of all the routes that have been canned this year from UK airports. I bet that there have been more routes axed than new ones announced, so potentially not a great deal of route development going on anywhere. Tin hat on!!
 
I would be interested to see a full list of all the routes that have been canned this year from UK airports.
Regarding TCX, in peak-summer 2018 they operated to 14 UK airports with bases at 10 of them.
The bases in size order are MAN, LGW, BHX, BRS, STN, GLA, NCL, EMA, CWL and BFS. They also operated to LBA, LTN, NWI and EDI.

In peak-summer 2019 they will only operate to their 10 UK bases (as above), with no flying to the likes of LBA, LTN etc.
They have increased their flights from MAN, BRS and STN and reduced from BHX, NCL and GLA with NCL losing a based aircraft.

The Thomas Cook UK (not incl MAN and LGW) operations in August 2019 are therefore as follows:
Airport / Departures per week / changes vs 2018
BHX - 56 (-7 vs 2018)
BRS - 43 (+4 vs 2018)
STN - 42 (+1 vs 2018)
NCL - 28 (-13 vs 2018)
EMA - 28 (no change)
GLA - 28 (no change)
CWL - 14 (-2 vs 2018)
BFS - 14 (no change)
LTN - 0 (-4 vs 2018)
LBA - 0 (-4 vs 2018)
NWI - 0 (-1 vs 2018)
EDI - 0 (-1 vs 2018)
 
Lots of questions emanating from my original question. It still beggars belief that for an Airport like LBA with its supposed operational issues, a relative newbie like Jet2 can make it work (very well) while the elder statesmen of TUI and TCX, either can't or just won't.
 
It's definitely won't rather than cant. I know it's a long time ago and things have changed re domestic travel, but where would Capital Airlines be Now if they had survived? They made LBA work and as Oldendays says Jet2 have made it work on a much greater scale. The demand always has been there, it just needed the right product and committment, and before you say anything fight2win that's with our current runway!
 
In the 70's, 80's and 90's nearly impossible to get a seat only deal to holiday resorts from LBA.
The new LCC's like Jet2 only offered this service and then started adding a holiday option.
Thomas Cook has been left behind, its package holiday business does not need its retail high street operation, its finding it almost impossible to sell its airline as a stand alone entity as it cant find a way with any buyer, to guarantee the seats it needs in the future for its holiday business.
Fosun last week increased the group investment in Thomas Cook to 24.7%, however, a full take over only possible if they ditch the airline side as they cant own the airline under e.u. rules.
All very messy, with the new rules in China allowing couples to travel together on leisure breaks, Thomas Cook a good fit for Fuson, but not for the future of its current internal european business, changing the direction of travel to the far east, makes dropping the aircraft base which in general is old and needs to be replaced, obviously with a different aircraft type, very easy to do.
You only have to see with their purchase of Club Med, where a 37% increase in passengers from the Far East and China has occurred to Club Med sites in the last year.
 
Businesses such as TUI and TCX have FAR too much history and changing to markets and responding to demand is a slow game. Jet2 however on the other hand have shown they are very adaptable, agile and smart enough to pull those that don't work, reduce the markets when they are viewed differently by the public and put markets that had there heyday in the 70's, 80's and to certain extent 90's before been dropped by the majors for new exotic destinations.

What i mean by this; is look how quick they dropped Tunisia & Egypt, credit where credit is due with their reduction for the Turkey programme when Turkey had it's blip and look how they've built & put Reus and Girona and both their associated resorts back on the map.
 

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9 trips in 9 days done 70 miles walked and over 23-00 photos taken with a large number taken at 20mph or above. Heavy rain on 1 day only
5 trips done and 45 miles walked,. Also the RAF has had 4 F35B Lightning follow me yesterday and today....
My plans got altered slightly as one of the minibus companies had to cancel 3 trips and refunded me but will be getting nice discount when I rebook them.
wondering why on my "holidays" I choose to get up 2 hours earlier than when going to work. 6 trips in 6 days soon coming up with 3 more days to sort out

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