Continental Airlines

[TheLocalYokel]

CO's strategy when it set up the BRS route was to use regional airports as a way of accessing the UK when it had no gateway at Heathrow.

Since that changed it abandoned its original London gateway at Gatwick and now Bristol.

Interestingly, the May figures for BRS-EWR were 8655, up 15% on May 2009, giving an average load of 140/load factor of nearly 80%.

BFS-EWR which on average is about 1,000 per passengers per month more than BRS was down 15% on May 2009 with 600 fewer passengers than the Bristol route. BRS also carried nearly 900 more passengers than BFS in April so maybe BFS-EWR might be being looked at very carefully by CO.

 

[alphagolf]

Continental Figures for the last week: Monday 28th June 2010 to Sunday 4th July 2010

Total Pax: 2,014 Inbound & Outbound

(BF) Business First Pax: 149

(E) Economy Pax: 1,865

Ave Load Factor: 83.64%

Ave Load Factor in BF: 66.52% :yahoo:

Good set of figures again this week, but on todays CO77 there were only 78 pax in (E) and 11 pax in (BF) with a total (LF) of 51.74%. Good in BF, but E was the lowest I have seen it since looking at the figures, maybe a blip will see what Monday's CO77 looks like.

I hope you find these figures both interesting and useful, please let me know if not!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

alphagolf,

I find these figures of great interest because they are broken down into seat classes.

Usually, one can only get a rough idea of the front cabin take-up by looking at the web seat selector, which of course is of very limited value for precise figures, or by having access to someone 'in the know' which I have had occasionally in the past but no longer for this particular route.

Sunday outbound excepted, the figures for the past week are good.

 

[alphagolf]

Tuesday 13th July - Continental Airlines

Flight CO77 to Newark

Business First: 15 Pax (1 Seat Available)

Economy: 156 Pax (FULL)

Load Factor: 99.42%

The highest load factor I have seen so far!

On Monday's CO76 inbound from Newark Business First: 16 Pax (FULL)

 

[Aviador]

... but they are still pulling the route. :nea:

I give in :whiteflag:

 

[alphagolf]

... but they are still pulling the route.

Hopefully the management team at Bristol are tracking these figures closely as it does demonstrate a market for this route!

Just have to wait and see!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Don't forget that Lufthansa pulled the BRS-FRA after carrying nearly 100,000 passengers in 12 twelve months and a month after they told the BRS management that the route was ahead of their business plan for it.

Airlines seem to work in mysterious ways at times and I still believe that if CO hadn't gained access to LHR, and in particular hadn't gained the extra slots to permit 5 x daily to EWR from there, the Bristol route would not be under notice of death.

I was told by a senior figure at BRS that LH pulled the BRS route because of the onset of the recession which could mean the BRS route would likely dilute their LHR and BHX routes to FRA.

BRS are still very hopeful the FRA will be reinstated when the economy picks up.

 

[alphagolf]

Continental Figures for the week: Monday 5th July 2010 to Sunday 11th July 2010

Total Pax: 1,853 Inbound & Outbound

(BF) Business First Pax: 120

(E) Economy Pax: 1,733

Ave Load Factor: 76.95%

Ave Load Factor in BF: 53.37%

Figures slightly down on previous weeks, but not a bad performance.

 

[alphagolf]

Continental Figures for the week: Monday 12th July 2010 to Sunday 18th July 2010

Total Pax: 2,089 Inbound & Outbound

(BF) Business First Pax: 168

(E) Economy Pax: 1,921

Ave Load Factor: 86.75%

Ave Load Factor in BF: 75.00%

Really good figures for last week, especially in BF! :good:

 

[alphagolf]

Passengers Stats for June 2010

BRS - EWR

8,686 Up 6% on June 2009

2010 YTD: 39,091 compared with 2009 YTD: 38,244

So far this month route has carried 6,522 pax with another 8 days to go. I would suspect it could break the 9,000 pax barrier for July 2010. FYI July 2009 there were 8,386 pax!

On another note, today's CO77 to EWR was full in both BF and E! :good:

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The numbers are picking up this year and it's a pity the route is being axed.

If the economy improves 2011 might well have seen the best year yet.

 

[alphagolf]

Saturday 24th July 2010

Continental CO77 BRS to EWR

Flight Status:

Business First: FULL

Economy: FULL

That's two days in a row now! :yahoo:

 

[Aviador]

It is peak season now but the airline will have looked at the figures for the whole year. There must be a case for a seasonal service if they don't think a year-round service is working. To be honest I'm puzzled at their decision to withdraw the route.

 

[alphagolf]

Continental Figures for the week: Monday 19th July 2010 to Sunday 25th July 2010

Total Pax: 2,098 Inbound & Outbound

(BF) Business First Pax: 168

(E) Economy Pax: 1,930

Ave Load Factor: 87.13%

Ave Load Factor in BF: 75.00%

Flt CO77 to EWR on Fri, Sat & Sun this week was fully booked in both Business First and Economy :yahoo:

 

[Aviador]

ray:

Stay of execution required! :coco:

 

[alphagolf]

Provisional Passengers Stats

BRS-EWR

July 2010 = 8,935 compared with 8,386 in July 2009

Up 6.5% on July 2009.

Load Factor in Business First were: 72.78%

Load Factor in Economy were: 84.92%

Total Load Factor for the Month: 83.79%

These are my estimated figures, so they may not accurately reflect the exact figures when released, but I would hope I am not too far out! ray:

 

[alphagolf]

Provisional Passengers Stats

BRS-EWR

July 2010 = 8,935

Considering seats available for July were 10,644 that's not a bad result as far as I can see. :yahoo:

In the first 7 months of 2010 the route has carried 48,026 compared with 46,630 at the same time in 2009.

I think we may well see over the 9,000 in August!

If the route continues to operate well til it closes in November, it will have carried over 3,000 more than the same period in 2009, or put another way an extra 17 757's full. And that's even with the Snow Closures and Volcanic Ash Closures earlier in the year, which probably accounted for a loss of approx 1,800 to 2,000 passengers. :whiteflag:

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It's ironic isn't it?

Had this year run its full course the current rate of progress suggests the final passenger figure would have been nearer 90,000 than 80,000.

Previous years:

2005 (20 May until end of year) - over 55,000
2006 - over 84,000
2007 - over 93,000
2008 - over 90,000
2009 - over 83,000

In the 12 months that it operated the LH FRA route carried nearly 100,000 passengers and had its best monthly load factor in the final month of its operation (April 2009).

I smile to myself when I read assertions on aviation forums that route A would have a market and would work if tried from airport B.

On these figures there is a huge market from BRS to both FRA and EWR but raw passenger numbers alone clearly don't always make routes viable for airlines.

Publicly, the airport is saying it is confident a replacement carrier to New York will be found but it may take a little time. The current economic and airline situation doesn't suggest this is around the corner but at least the airport has actual passenger figures rather than projected ones from surveys to support its attempts.

If, in the years ahead, Heathrow really is constrained by the lack of an additional runway then an airport like Bristol that is disadvantaged in some ways by its proximity to the country's major player may find this nearness an advantage if neighbouring 'overspill' airports are required.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

[textarea]Continental codeshare boost for transatlantic travellers

Brussels Airlines flights from Bristol to carry CO code

From Monday 9 August, travellers from across the South West and Wales can take advantage of a convenient new alternative when making transatlantic travel plans.

As a result of a codeshare agreement between Continental Airlines and Brussels Airlines, passengers can now take advantage of a seamless service to the USA from Bristol Airport – even after Continental’s direct service to New York ceases on 7 November.

Brussels Airlines currently operates three flights daily to the Belgian capital, from where passengers can connect to an onward flight to Continental’s New York hub, Newark Liberty International Airport, opening up hundreds of destinations across North and South America.

Both airlines are members of the Star Alliance, meaning travellers signed up to Continental’s OnePass or Brussels Airlines’ Miles and More frequent flyer programmes can earn or redeem mileage on either airline’s global route network. Business travellers can also take advantage of the UK’s fastest growing corporate travel loyalty programme, Star Alliance Company Plus.

Codeshare agreements benefit passengers by allowing them to book connecting flights with different airlines under one carrier’s code. Cooperating airlines work together to synchronize their schedules and coordinate baggage handling in order to make connections more convenient, efficient and reliable.

Brussels Airlines’ first daily departure from Bristol connects to Continental’s flight from Brussels to New York, with an arrival time of 12:25 – all without having to make time-consuming and stressful road or rail journeys to airports outside the region in order to fly.

Passengers travelling to Germany can also make onward connections via Brussels Airlines under a codeshare with fellow Star Alliance partner, Lufthansa.[/textarea]

http://www.bristolairport.co.uk/news-an ... ssels.aspx

Not sure how many passengers will use this codeshare after CO stops flying non-stop to Newark from Bristol in November.

BRS passengers already have transatlantic and other inter-continental options at the Amsterdam and Paris Cdg hubs with the KLM/Air France links.

 

[Aviador]

I don't think Bristol passengers will have much loyalty for Continental Airlines either once they have withdrawn the route.