Manchester: General Airport Discussions & Updates

[Aceshigh]

I did indeed Scottie

Best not start debating the 24hr clock 🙂

 

[Aceshigh]

I did indeed Scottie. The vagaries of age.

It's a hell of a leap!

 

[Aceshigh]

Proportional and national media coverage.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/news/virgin-atlantic-manchester-airport-flights-11244879.amp

Excellent!

 

[Dobbo]

Interview with Airport City chief executive Lynda Shillaw.

https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/shillaw-airport-city-on-the-cusp/#.WdNRKttCv84.twitter

It is dated 3 October 2017, but a lot of the headline points in there sound familiar. I don't know whether this is MAG senior management acting with one brain and one vision (cudos if so) but it could just as easily be an old interview republished.

The usual tasty morsels such as being in discussions with a transformational potential occupier of airport city north, and the TP supporting 20-30 new long haul routes (seems optimistic - this would just about double the long haul portfolio).

Keeps moving in the right direction, hopefully dampening the shock of loosing MAN's 7th largest customer (Monarch).

 

[Scottie Dog]

Unfortunately Manchester Airport Group have made major changes to their website and I no longer have access to the Magworld Operations pages - does anybody know of any alternative means of accessing the information?

 

[Comet]

I eventually found the OANs if that's what your looking for. If not it should allow you to find other stuff. Hope the link works

http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/...r/document-library/operational-advice-notice/

 

[Aceshigh]

Had MON still been in situ, surely we would have had say one frame from ALL the major parties ANYWAY as part of natural growth?

At best what we have seen thus far is mopping up some residual capacity....

...and at worst grazing the surface of the MON loss.

It certainly isn't a like for like, that would take about 16 frames across the board ?

Parity beckons for 2018 ?

Or have I missed something?

 

[Land23R]

My gut feeling is if we can hold on at 2017 levels next year, we will be doing well. The question is what would MAN be expecting in 2018 if MON still been in situ as you say. I suspect growth would have been more modest
at maybe 3%-4% at best. If MON accounted for between 6% and 7% of passengers, that would suggest a reduction of about 3% without any of the lost capacity being made good. So, on that basis, we would need to recover half of the lost capacity to maintain current levels. And as Aceshigh mentions, that would be after any natural growth, so if for example Jet 2 were already planning to add 1 a/c (contributing to the 3%-4% used above) and it's now 2, only the second a/c would be compensating for some of the MON loss. The same would apply to easyjet if they add more than the 1 extra a/c previously planned.

That really relates to the summer. It's even more difficult to assess the implications for this winter which may be more damaging in a way, at least in percentage terms.

All speculation of course. What really happens may be very different.

 

[User001]

Well, its not directly F&B related, but I do hope the new terminal is much more 'family friendly'.

MAN used used by a LOT of families going on their jollies, and at the moment, the provision for them is pretty dire.

Firstly, the duty free maze is too narrow. I get that MAN wants to maximise its retail revenue and thus insists T1 and T2 pax have to go through the shop to get to the gates, but does it have to be so bloody narrow and winding? (Not to mention the fact going through the shop doesn't make me want to buy something any more than if I didn't got through the shop, but there we go).

Getting a pushchair and hand baggage through there without worrying you are going to knock over half the displays adds to the stress. It gets even worse when they suddenly decide to plonk a promo stand in the middle of the path.

Lounges:

I tried to book the escape lounge for my last holiday. 'Nope, sorry sir, you have under 6's on your booking, no can do'.

Tried to book the aspire lounge. Full, but I hear that even though they allow kids, frankly, they'd rather you didn't bring any in.

So, as seen as they have an adults only lounge offering, and some lounges don't accept kids, why not have a family offering! The seating areas are naff, it's very busy and overwhelming for some kids. The V-room offers this, but only to Vigin Holidays customers (not even Virgin flight only can use it!)

Play areas:

MAN has a kids area, but, it's a small area with a plastic floor and a few rubber bricks to play with. That's it. Hardly going to set their imagination on fire, is it? SIN has soft play, PMI has a small indoor play park and I've seen countless other examples. I can't believe it would be that costly to implement something like that.

Food:

We ate at Giraffe on the last trip. It was nice enough, but again, with a pushchair and hand baggage, to get to the seat we were directed to, the staff had to ask 2 people to stand up for a moment to get us through, and between 4 sets of tables I could only just get through. Again, seems there is no family provision in mind for these eateries.

Overall, with dedicated smoking areas etc, it's sad that MAN is better set up for smokers that's families in my opinion. We have rooms for fruit machines, we have 2 Starbucks and space for a flipping sports car to be raffled off in the terminal, but hardly anything for families. It's something that desperately needs to be amended in the new T2.

 

[Dobbo]

I think this shows the breadth of audience MAN has to cater for in the new terminal.

I'd like to see some nice places to eat and drink, as well as what most people would call high end shops (I've probably got LHR T2 in my head as a template).

Obviously as well as this, there are families, the "drinking crowd" and everything in between. Getting this balance right will be a hard ask but they have so much space in which to do it. It should be achievable.

It'll be interesting to hear any updates on lounges. We can assume the EK, EY and QR will spend a pretty penny, and if Oman and CX go towards double daily they may decide it's worth having one off their own. We expect VS and BA to invest, and SQ, if they and other group airlines expand, may be tempted with a lounge of their own.

The alternative would be alliance based lounges, which may work better in some instances.

 

[Scottie Dog]

DUAL RUNWAY OPERATIONS

I was just looking through the ACL Summer 2018 Capacity Declaration for Manchester and see, interestingly, that they do now show dual runways operations as follows:

Mon-Fri
0500z-1959z

Sat
0500z-1459z

Sun
0500z-0830z
1200z-1958z

 

[Dobbo]

Does this imply the additional capacity is necessary? (I.e. A good sign of what's to come in S18?)

 

[EGCC_MAN]

If you're in T3 by the windows during the late morning 23L closure one cannot help but notice the constant lengthy queue of aircraft awaiting departure, many of these heavy long-hauls. So yes, the additional capacity is necessary - and that is based on current demand. Note that although the loss of Monarch Airlines is a huge blow very few of their movements were scheduled to operate during the late morning closure period. There may be some unwelcome gaps in traffic during the 1400-1600L period over the short term, but no doubt Jet2, EasyJet etc will help to plug this shortfall by S18 season.

 

[Dobbo]

I make no apologies for the length of this post, most of which has been lifted from MAG's submission on the governments aviation policy. I think it puts to bed the rumours that MAG somehow favours STN.

It sets out the positioning of MAN to become a major global hub, and encourages the government to facilitate this by step change of surface access.

It also sets out some interesting comments in the governments anticipated timeframe for LHR runway three.

I'd reccomend reading the document, which can be accessed via the MAG website. Selected extracts below.

-------------------

A Northern Powerhouse Aviation Strategy

Global connectivity will play a vital role in rebalancing the UK economy. The ability of British and foreign companies to access international markets directly from the North will be fundamental to supporting trade, attracting investment and creating high-value jobs across the region.

Global connectivity from the North is not a ‘regional’ issue - it is one of national significance. Better direct connectivity has the potential to drive higher productivity and economic growth right across the North, which in turn will make a significant contribution to the UK’s economic performance.

For this reason, the Aviation Strategy is an important and timely opportunity for the Government to show commitment to the vision for a Northern Powerhouse by identifying the specific steps that it will take to improve the region’s global connectivity.

The process should start with an ambitious objective, and we believe that one of the strategy’s core objectives should be to make the North one of the best connected regions in Europe over the next 10-20 years.

Achieving this objective as part of the strategy will require the Government to work with partners across the region to evaluate and prioritise measures to improve global connectivity in the North, and then to commit to delivering these in the Aviation Strategy.

The strategy will help define the Government’s strategic priorities for its delivery agencies (such as Network Rail, Highways England and HS2 Ltd) to ensure investment is planned and delivered in an integrated way. The strategy should also give clear direction to Transport for the North on the priority to be attached to infrastructure schemes that improve journey times, reliability and commuters flows, and unlock better international connectivity for the North.


Manchester Airport: the Global Gateway for the Northern Powerhouse

The North already benefits from having a thriving global gateway at Manchester Airport. With potential to serve 55 million passengers a year from its two runways, Manchester Airport is one of Europe’s top 20 airports and is one of the few UK airports with the infrastructure capacity to meet long term growth in demand.

Importantly, the airport has, by some distance, the strongest network of long haul connections of any airport outside London, with services to cities such as Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore as well as key routes to North America and the Middle East. These services, for both passengers and freight, provide businesses operating in global sectors such as life sciences, technology, energy and advanced manufacturing with the direct access to overseas markets they need to compete successfully.

The Secretary of State for Transport recognised the strategic significance of Manchester Airport during a visit to the airport in July 2017, highlighting the airport’s position as the UK’s second global hub and its role in providing international connectivity and supporting growth.

To support the airport’s next phase of growth we are investing £1 billion in the Manchester Airport Transformation Programme (MAN-TP). This four-year development will be complete by 2022 providing high levels of customer service and new passenger facilities and infrastructure to enable the airport to initially serve up to 45 mppa.

The wider economic benefits generated as a result of Manchester Airport’s global connections are considerable; in 2016 we estimate that Manchester Airport contributed around £8 billion in wider economic benefits to the UK economy in terms of direct, indirect and induced benefits, as well as business productivity and tourism. Over the coming decades, the present value of the economic benefits from Manchester Airport’s growth will be well in excess of £100 billion.

Starting now, Manchester Airport’s growth will contribute significantly more to driving economic growth in the Northern Powerhouse than any other UK airport. While new capacity at Heathrow may eventually deliver some connectivity benefits for UK regions by 2030, these will be a small proportion of the benefits that Manchester Airport will deliver across the North in terms of trade, investment and opportunities for skilled employment.

For that reason alone, Manchester Airport warrants particular focus as a national strategic priority during the Aviation Strategy process.


Unlocking Manchester Airport’s long term potential

The key aviation issue for the North is not one of airport capacity; with two runways and a £1bn investment under way, the aviation ‘building blocks’ are already in place at Manchester Airport to enable the North to become one of the best connected regions in Europe. Instead, the fundamental issue is one of connectivity from across the North to the region’s global gateway.

With better rail and road links – including HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) and strategic road improvements – the North’s cities and towns would benefit enormously from improved connections to global markets, with millions of additional people (and businesses) coming within easy reach of Manchester Airport. More than anything, this would help to address the disparity between the different parts of the North in terms of international connectivity. Transport for the North estimates that with better road and rail infrastructure, the number of passengers travelling to/from the region by air would be around 10% higher than it is today.

NPR would significantly reduce journey times between the North’s core cities and Manchester Airport, improving access to global markets from across the Northern Powerhouse. For example, once NPR is developed, Liverpool and Leeds city centres would be only 15 and 30 minutes respectively from Manchester Airport. Based on analysis of CAA data, NPR would increase the population within two hours of the airport by public transport to around 10 million people, compared to just over three million today.

From an aviation perspective, this much larger catchment would act as powerful catalyst for airlines to introduce new long haul services, and support around 20-30 new long haul destinations. In turn, this would broaden the network of connections available directly from the North, providing further encouragement to global businesses to invest in the region, supporting productivity improvements and the creation of new high-skill jobs.

This is a view we share with the National Infrastructure Commission and Transport for the North. In particular, the NIC recommended to Government that plans for HS3 should be developed by the end of 2017 to “provide enhanced connectivity and improved journey times between the major cities of the North and to Manchester Airport, its most important international gateway”.

The NIC also recommended that the northern phase of HS2 should be planned and delivered in a way “so as to facilitate the development of the HS3 network, enhancing connectivity between Leeds – Sheffield, Liverpool – Manchester (and its airport), and between Sheffield – Newcastle, as well as to onward destinations”.

In relation to strategic highway improvements, the NIC recommended that Government should bring forwards investment for improvements to the M62, the North’s most important east-west link, which could cut journey times by up to 20% and increase capacity by up to a third. It further recommended that development funding should be provided to accelerate the design of further enhancements to the road network, and to prioritise better connections to Manchester Airport.

We welcome the Government’s recent commitment of £300 million to ensure that HS2 is designed and delivered in a way that will enable NPR to be easily integrated in due course. This provides a clear signal of the Government’s intention to press ahead with a major programme of investment to improve rail connectivity across the North.

Government should now commit to funding the development of Northern Powerhouse Rail and its integration with the delivery of HS2. Given the imminent timing of decisions on Phase 2b of HS2, CP6 funding and TfN’s feasibility studies on NPR, an early part of the Aviation Strategy should be to evaluate the benefits of investment in road and rail investment to Manchester (and other airports) before setting out clear priorities for relevant delivery agencies.


Manchester Airport’s long term potential

In the long term, high-speed rail has the potential to strengthen the network of competing airports across the UK. In particular, NPR would radically reduce city-to-city journey times and transform access to Manchester Airport from across the region. HS2 services will also significantly enlarge the airport’s catchment to the south and make it easy for passengers to fly from Manchester as an alternative to London’s airports.

Once these rail improvements are in place, millions of additional people will be able to benefit from direct and convenient access to the global connectivity provided by the airport. In turn, this will enable the airport to attract airlines to offer new services to an even wider range of destinations.

Over a 10-20 year time horizon, there is clear potential for Manchester Airport to develop as a major global hub. With capacity to serve 55 mppa from its two runways and convenient access to the airport for millions of additional passengers, Manchester Airport would be in position to meet a much higher share of the UK’s aviation needs and transform the North into one of the best connected regions in Europe.

The scope for such profound changes needs to be central to the Government’s thinking as it considers not only the Aviation Strategy over the period to 2050, but also the strategic case for investment in new rail and road connections linking to Manchester Airport, the global gateway for the Northern Powerhouse.



The timing of new capacity at Heathrow

In evaluating the case for Government action, the aviation strategy should adopt a prudent and realistic approach to the likely timing of new capacity at Heathrow.

The potential for delays in the planning process and the complexities associated with delivering a new runway means it would be unrealistic for Government to develop the Aviation Strategy on the current best-case assumption that new capacity will be available by 2026. To do so would risk understating the benefits of policies and investment that will support airports in making more effective use of existing runway capacity up to and beyond that date.

Adopting a realistic view of the opening date will ensure that the Government’s aviation policy recognises the true value of existing capacity at other airports and the strategic importance of policies that will support them in making the most effective use of their spare capacity.

 

[Comet]

Scottie

I may have directed you to the new location of the OANs but to be frank they are now a mess.

Nos 71 to 73 were recently issued. However these were old expired ones with new numbers. Others are not listed as OANs and one new interesting one is not there but duplicates the next one.

It would seem that the car park on Juliet is to go but the detail relates to a crane on stand 207.

 

[Scottie Dog]

Thanks Comet.

I had noticed that but appreciate your "heads up".

 

[Scottie Dog]

I now have the correct link for the OAN that relates to the removal of the car park on Taxiway Juliet:

http://mag-umbraco-media-live.s3.am...of-temporary-car-park-from-taxiway-juliet.pdf

Hopefully it works!

 

[Comet]

Yes it does.

Many thanks.

 

[Dobbo]

Short article about MAN's lack of reliance on a single dominant carrier.

https://blueswandaily.com/insight-o...-airports-offering-strongest-airline-variety/

 

[David_itl]

I'm not too sure that the available summer seats is quite correct though: 11,176,866 seats for 6 months?

Look at September's monthly release and we have in the 2017/2018 financial year 13,571,166 passengers. And that's in 4 months.

Think they need to readjust the figures?!