Emirates

[TheLocalYokel]

I hesitated before starting a CWL Emirates thread because it's not quite as the headline might make it appear.

Nevertheless, it's an interesting development especially, as the press release states, Cardiff is unusual in appearing on the Emirates website as a booking destination/starting point without having a direct Emirates service to the airport.

If people take advantage of this in decent numbers who knows what it might lead to in time.

[textarea]Emirates Opens Up Route Network To Welsh Travellers

Airline offers connections from Cardiff via UK & European Gateways

South Wales travellers now have the opportunity to connect with award-winning Emirates Airline from Wales' national airport via a number of the carrier's UK and European gateways.

Passengers flying on various scheduled airlines from Cardiff, such as Flybe and Eastern Airways, can connect with Emirates services to Dubai via Newcastle, Glasgow, Paris and Amsterdam, and then onwards to its expanding network of over 100 worldwide destinations - checking in only once at Cardiff Airport.

Cardiff is one of the few UK destinations not served directly by the airline that can be booked on the Emirates website. Besides services to Dubai, Emirates offers convenient onward connections to destinations across the Middle East, Asia, Australasia, Africa and the Indian Ocean.

The connections will also potentially attract inbound tourism to Wales and put the Welsh capital on the global tourism map as the flights will be available to book in overseas destinations as far away as New Zealand and Australia.

Spencer Birns, Cardiff Airport's head of air service development, commented: "We're glad to be able to offer our passengers the chance to experience this award-winning airline through simple connections from their local airport.

"As a regional airport we're not always going to be able to offer direct services to long haul destinations; however we stress that flying from your local airport and connecting onto flights in airports such as Paris, Dublin or Amsterdam to worldwide locations is often a much easier, more convenient, time-saving and can be a cheaper way of travelling."

Conrad Clifford, Emirates' Vice President UK & Ireland added: "We are constantly looking at ways of expanding our services in the UK and Ireland, and are pleased that Welsh travellers can now connect with Emirates from several gateways across the UK and Europe."[/textarea]

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

 

[Aviador]

Disappointing but if this is their way of testing the water it can't be knocked. I always found the Newcastle - Dubai route an interesting addition to their route network but so far as we can tell the route has been a success. If press releases are anything to go by that routes success has been largely brought about by the amount of freight carried on the route. So supposedly, if Cardiff (or Bristol?) airports can deliver a good source of freight traffic, the airline might just consider them.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Bristol would be a non-starter unless the route operated via another UK or near-European airport because of its limited frieght facilities and in particular its short tunway. Things could change in the future when the likes of the B787 and A350 become widely used by airlines.

We're looking to book flights to Australia later this year and if possible I want to avoid Heathrow although Singapore Airlines is very tempting from there.

However, we're seriously looking at Emirates from Birmingham. The airline is currently trying to tempt more passengers (especially business class) from the Bristol area to use its BHX link which makes me wonder if it will ever be worth its while to fly from Bristol given its BHX and LHR routes that are not far away.

Cardiff is a bit further from BHX and LHR but it would almost certainly need 'help' from neighbouring areas to secure decent passenger loads (although the freight aspect might help) because its own catchment is probably too small to support a service on its own, even with some inbounds arriving to visit Wales for business/pleasure.

That 'help' would primarily come from the Bristol area which as I have said is being encouraged to use the airline's BHX service so unless Emirates foresaw a significant increase in passengers from the southern half of the UK one wonders how viable a Cardiff (or Bristol) route would be.

We've already seen Lufthansa withdraw a route from Bristol that was ahead of the airline's business plan in order to protect its LHR and BHX routes to Frankfurt in the recession which might give an idea of how airlines or at least some airlines think.