Flybe

[Aviador]

First 10 days of the route. i.e. 20th April to beginning of May, 343 people were flown. Thats nearly 100% loads. Looking promising. :yahoo:

Sounds promising! Has ABZ been released for the winter yet?

 

[mathers_wales_uk]

The were certainly not 100% loads on the ABZ flights, not sure of exact figures but it is more like 50% if anything.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Ten days gives twenty sectors - so an average load of around 17 or, as Mathers says, roughly 50% load factor.

I think if it is 50% it is still a promising start, especially in these economic times.

The 3 x daily Eastern to ABZ from BRS usually has load factors of no more than 50% on the 29 seat J 41s for most of the year, sometimes less, albeit Eastern's fares are invariably high.

That said, Flybe can apparently make profits on relatively light loads - I know this is Loganair but BE will be applying its own business plan.

 

[Aviador]

[textarea]Cardiff Airport celebrates Flybe's 'milestone'

Flybe has become Cardiff Airport's busiest airline, beating off competition from other carriers including the previous number one bmibaby.

Spencer Birns, head of air service development at Cardiff Airport, said: "We're pleased to see Flybe's consistent growth at Cardiff, offering Welsh passengers a wide range of routes and frequent flights to sought after destinations."

Flybe flies to seven destinations from Cardiff Airport including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast City, Newcastle, Aberdeen and Paris airports.

Mike Rutter, chief commercial officer at Flybe, said that the airline had become the biggest at Cardiff in under 12 months.

He thanked passengers for their help in achieving the "key milestone".

Flybe recently said that Civil Aviation Authority statistics had shown it is now the UK's number one domestic airline. It carries more passengers within the UK than any other airline, having secured a 26 per cent share of the market.

Cardiff Airport, which was originally set up in the 1940s as a training base for the RAF, sees 1.9 million passengers each year flying to more than 60 different destinations.

Source[/textarea]

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Bit of playing with figures here.

Flybe might have more weekly routes but bmibaby still carries far more passengers from CWL as it has all the Spanish sun routes.

 

[WYIA]

BE1432
CDG-CWL

Diverted to LGW at about 1230

Passengers said to leave the aircraft through the main passenger door and not evacuate. LGW closed one runway for a period and the aircraft was then towed to a remote position after fire service cleared it. Passengers describe smoke/fire onboard however flybe have made only a statement calling it a "priority landing/diversion" due to a suspected technical fault.

 

[Aviador]

[textarea]Flybe becomes Cardiff's busiest airline[/textarea]

So where's next for Flybe Cardiff? The key destinations are just about all covered now. It will take a major commitment by Flybe to enter more European destinations such as Frankfurt.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It seems Flybe aren't keen to commit to too many untried new routes at the moment. I believe they are in the process of hiving off, I think it is four, Q400s with crews to operate in Greece for many months.

If, at some point, they decide to expand at CWL then a look at Exeter Airport shows that routes such as Avignon, Bergerac, Brest, Dubrovnik, Nice and Rennes are operated from there - not all are year-round routes and they are certainly not daily ones, or anything like, but it might give an idea of the sort of thing Flybe might do from CWL. Their EXT routes should not be diluted if it were to happen.

Southampton has other routes such as Bordeaux, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Limoges, Perpignan and Split - again they are not all year-round - and some of these could feature in any CWL expansion.

Depends what happens to baby to some extent and also whether FFB will really take to the skies.

 

[welshguy39]

Flybe enters race for British Midland

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/b ... 850810.ece

 

[Aviador]

How do you locals feel about prospect of Flybe taking over the bmibaby operation?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Opens up various possibilities, not least would baby be included in the deal and, if so, to what end?

baby could be run as a complementary loco (probably not likely) or absorbed into Flybe which would mean an additional type into an already mixed fleet until the 737s were disposed of - if they were because the Embraer 195s are probably too small on sunshine routes from some of the bigger airports that baby uses and CWL would need larger capacity aircraft than the 195 on the likes of AGP and ALC, certainly in the main summer months anyway.

Flybe seemed to cope after a fashion when they took over BACon and their non-standard (to Flybe) fleet, although there were numerous reports of operational problems in the first few months, not least those highlighted by passengers.

I suspect most CWL aficionados would hope that baby was absorbed into Flybe and that all existing baby routes were maintained along with new ones.

 

[Aviador]

[textarea]Flybe renew Aviance contract at Cardiff Airport

Aviance, the company managing all ground-handling operations at Cardiff Airport, has had its contract with Flybe renewed in a deal helping to safeguard 130 jobs. It has agreed a new three-year deal with the regional low-cost airline.

Aviance employs 130 permanent staff at Cardiff Airport and has worked with Flybe for two-and-a-half years. It provides all ground services, including check-in, passenger processing and baggage handling.

James Muldoon, Aviance station manager at Cardiff Airport, said: ‘I’m delighted that Flybe has chosen to renew its ground-handling licence with Aviance at Cardiff. This is welcome news for the staff, particularly given the current economic climate which has proved challenging for the aviation industry.'

Source[/textarea]

They wont have had any choice will they? I thought Cardiff only had one handling agent these days?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CWL-ABZ

It looks as though the Cardiff-Aberdeen route that commenced in April of this year, operated by Loganair as a Flybe route is ceasing in the second week of January. There is nothing bookable after that.

If this is the case it is a particular blow to the CWL management as Aberdeen was one of the routes that many people had asked for in a survey.

It's been a bad two days for the airport with the loss of next summer's Sanford, Florida route following the demise of FlyGlobespan.

This is not an airport serving a tiny catchment and, although it suffers severe haemorrhaging of passengers from South Wales to Bristol (especially) and Birmingham airports, its current situation is beginning to look unpromising but, more than that, out of synch with what it ought to be achieving.

However, I think this may be taking too pessimistic a view and it wouldn't surprise me if the airport began to turn things round in the coming months. I'm not suggesting miracles, merely evidence that there are better times around the corner, although the corner may be a gradual one.

Let's wait and see.

 

[User0001]

some good news from flybe

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/cardi ... -25425319/

 

[TheLocalYokel]

welshguy's link seems to be evidence of the penultimate paragraph suggestion in my previous post already - that was quick but the corner is a gradual one as I indicated.

Yet again, an airline is suggesting the time is not yet right for expansion but that 2011 might be.

I shall read the Welsh site, the Fruit board and other message boards with interest to see if the posters who have been preaching doom and gloom about CWL's future now take this as evidence that the airport is set to become one of the UK's leading regional airports.

Over the years I have noticed that some aficionados of CWL, though not usually those with professional aviation connections, tend to run either very hot or very cold, depending on the latest announcement from the airport or an airline, when they should accept that warm is the proper temperature by which to judge the airport.

It's good to see such enthusiasm and if anything they deserve success at their airport for being so consistently up front in the public domain with their underlying massive support but understandable frustration. If support on message boards was the clincher than CWL really would be one of the big UK regionals.

This pronouncement from Flybe is along the right lines but should be read in the knowledge that the expansion will depend on the economic climate in two years time and also that Flybe makes a regular habit of promising big things at some airports but then fails to deliver.

Nevertheless, this will cheer up those who believe passionately in their local airport.

 

[Em0866]

It has been all gloom and doom at CWL lately, and things can only get better. Until this recession shows any sign of moving, things will probably stay as they are. Important thing is to stay positive and wait and be patient. I am confident that things will improve and sooner or later there will be light at the end of a very long tunnel

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Em, I agree with you.

Things will improve but people will have to be patient. IMO your postings always suggest you are one of the realistic CWL posters.

I'm not really having a go at those who want instant action - I understand their frustrations and admire their passion and enthusiasm - but we live in the real world, a world that has been experiencing one of the worst recessions in history, and we're not out of the wood yet.

I've been saying for a long time that Flybe is the right sort of airline for CWL with its big fleet of Q 400s ideally suited to many routes that could be but are not currently flown from the airport.

The press blurb mentions Southampton and the routes that Flybe operates from there. In time there is no reason why some of those routes couldn't operate from CWL; after all the airline also has a decent portfolio of routes from Exeter which is a smaller market than Cardiff.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

[textarea]Flybe shows commitment to Wales by upping Belfast flights

Flybe, the UK's Number One Domestic Airline, is operating an additional four flights a week on its Cardiff to Belfast City route.

The announcement follows low cost carrier bmibaby's decision to terminate its service from Cardiff Airport to Belfast International Airport effective from 25 February 2010.

Flybe will now operate up to 16 flights a week on its winter service between Cardiff and Belfast City with one way fares from £25.99 including taxes and airport charges.

Mike Rutter, Flybe's Chief Commercial Officer, says: "While other airlines unfortunately continue to retrench and cut yet more services, we remain committed to filling as many of these abandoned routes as possible so that business and leisure travellers can still have a wide choice of affordable and convenient options to key destinations.

"Flybe's overriding priority is keeping Britain on the move. As our regional economies slowly climb out of recession, we understand how crucial travel is to thousands of businesses up and down the country. These two cities are playing an important role as real engines of recovery for UK plc and Flybe aims to do everything possible to help them in whatever way we can."

Spencer Birns, Head of Air Service Development at Cardiff Airport commented: "We are thrilled that Flybe has seen the opportunity which exists in connecting Wales and Northern Ireland. The increased frequency of their Belfast City service should be of great benefit to both business and leisure travellers both sides of the water."

Mr Rutter concludes: "Flybe looks forward to welcoming our new customers on this important route and again we reaffirm our determination to serving the people of Wales and to maintaining our proud position as Cardiff's number one airline."[/textarea]

http://www.tbicardiffairport.com/en/new ... uency.html

A bit of positve news for the airport but why do airlines have to come out with such bullsh*t?

Rutter spouts on about other airlines retrenching and cutting services yet fails to mention that Flybe did exactly this with CWL-BHD a year or so ago. The route used to be double daily until Flybe cut it back to 6 x weekly - no Saturdays.

The four extra flights he talks about are actually two additional rotations making Fridays and Sundays double daily with the rest of the week still single daily and no Saturdays as before.

That gives the 16 flights per week - 8 rotations.

I did a test booking on Sundays for early March and the return fare came to £168.

Fair does for spotting a gap following the bmibaby pull-out of CWL-BFS but Flybe haven't exactly gone in with all guns blazing.

Let's hope they put it back to double daily for the summer.

 

[Aviador]

I agree. It's good news that the airline has increased flights but the number of flights they have added doesn't exactly show a great deal of confidence in the Cardiff airport given the loss of BMIbaby on the Belfact route.

 

[Em0866]

Well it's good that Flybe have jumped in here....it's better than nothing. Does anyone know though if the BFS route is being withdrawn only from CWL?