easyJet

[Silvercity]

Nothing to stop them at all but remember too that for many years all flights to Belfast were to Aldergrove and loadings have been consistently good. If folk want to go to Belfast and City is no longer an option, they will just go to BFS. It is still easier than travelling to another airport in Lancashire just to save a few miles when they land.

Easyjet totally changed things on LPL-BFS route. Before they arrived it was operated by Manx Airlines to Belfast City using APTs as a rule, then I think BA took over Manx they used J41s from Memory. High fares ruled with limited choices of departures.

Now it is Belfast's busiest route outside London ( around 500,000 per annum) with multiple A320 departures ( in normal times) and much better priced fares.

Change of airport in Belfast has not been an issue on passenger take up.

 

[JetRob]

Bit risky though would you not say operating out of a brand new base first off to more unique, non bucket and spade destinations? To me it makes more sense to test the water with more high density routes like ALC,AGP then with caution add routes like MAD,LIS? Also very important to look at your customer base in that area, general population and getting the word out there. In the case of LBA it most certainly has a market for high density routes as well as the more select customer destinations.

I can certainly understand the philosophy here F2W. I was just merely stating that the high density routes will have a lot of competition, Jet2 and Ryanair been the main airlines. The fact that introducing new routes to an airport lacking in new route potential, it would be a welcome addition to provide new routes such as Madrid and Lisbon (as examples) to an airport that NEEDS the input from another airline.

 

[LBA4EVER]

Does not make sense at all! Why would you start a route with two competitors already when you can have a route all to yourselves.

At one point we had jet2,ryanair,monarch plus tui,tcx all flying to ALC,AGP,PMI. you will always fill planes flying to them destinations and similar.I will say no more

 

[LBA4EVER]

I can certainly understand the philosophy here F2W. I was just merely stating that the high density routes will have a lot of competition, Jet2 and Ryanair been the main airlines. The fact that introducing new routes to an airport lacking in new route potential, it would be a welcome addition to provide new routes such as Madrid and Lisbon (as examples) to an airport that NEEDS the input from another airline.

At one point we had jet2, Ryanair, monarch and I think even tui all flying to ALC and AGP. If easyjet ever did start opertaions from leeds then I would suggest a mix of destinations from Alicante,palma and malaga to a few outside the box like Iceland, madrid, milan. One problem LBA has is its image, people think that they always have to travel from MAN because you cant get to certain places from LBA. Im hoping that image is finally put to sleep in sept when we get the go ahead on the new terminal, it will open a can of worms and put LBA right up there at the top with other european airports.

 

[White Heather]

One airline that certainly would change that image is Easyjet. If you get them here operating various routes, it changes of the image almost overnight, provided the terminal facilities are suitable, or will become suitable in the foreseeable future. I would agree that a mix of routes would be the best option with some of the old favourites which traditionally are under served (although in the post Covid era, that might change for a year or two), plus those that LBA needs but doesn't have. Madrid had decent loads for Jet2 - I suspect Easyjet would probably suit the route better though. Lisbon too, although Jet2 are operating that from next summer. Something to Germany is a must. Not a single German destination now despite the fact in the recent past we have had Berlin, Dusseldorf, Munich, Weeze, and Hamburg. One thing LBA is best at it having routes and then losing them again. Germany and Ireland in particular.

 

[Malaga]

At one point we had jet2,ryanair,monarch plus tui,tcx all flying to ALC,AGP,PMI. you will always fill planes flying to them destinations and similar.I will say no more

And what happened to Monarch and Thomas Cook? These are the places that a new airline shouldn't fly to. A little competition is good (for the customer), too much is bad for everyone in the long run.

 

[G-AZNZ(2)]

And what happened to Monarch and Thomas Cook? These are the places that a new airline shouldn't fly to. A little competition is good (for the customer), too much is bad for everyone in the long run.

Presumably this was the case with Vueling's BCN route.

 

[LBA4EVER]

And what happened to Monarch and Thomas Cook? These are the places that a new airline shouldn't fly to. A little competition is good (for the customer), too much is bad for everyone in the long run.

LBA did not cause monarch and Thomas cook to go bust lol

 

[LBA4EVER]

I wish someone would fly to Valencia from LBA, like Lisbon its an amazing city. Its a very large but beautiful city and home to the arts and science museum, one of the wonders of spain.

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

There is a problem here. Belfast has two airports. One knows what the market potential is for the city airport BHD, but does one know what the potential is for BFS which is likely to be less popular? If Easyjet start the route to BFS, what is to stop someone else starting a route to BHD and diluting the market. Remember, Jet2 cancelled their route to BFS, so lets not get too excited about Easyjet.

Jet2 cancelled the BFS route due to a differing business model which was diversifying more into leisure orientated routes supported by Jet2holidays. BFS probably made the money it needed to in the early early days.

At one point we had jet2,ryanair,monarch plus tui,tcx all flying to ALC,AGP,PMI. you will always fill planes flying to them destinations and similar.I will say no more

We never had TUI nor TC on the ALC route. Likewise TC never operated into AGP. TUI did for one season but i believe they were feeding more of a cruising side of the business from AGP rather than their own holidays in resorts around the AGP area (which was a add on)

PMI will always be a filler. Any company that can't fill aircraft profitably down to PMI is definitely doing something wrong. I mean in peak summer most aircraft should be leaving most British destinations for PMI full & with good revenue/profit. Did TC ever serve LBA-PMI with it's own metal? I know TUI was a W pattern, the aircraft at LBA & Air Europa but cannot remember TC.

And what happened to Monarch and Thomas Cook? These are the places that a new airline shouldn't fly to. A little competition is good (for the customer), too much is bad for everyone in the long run.

Monarch - miss managed, lost strategy and lack of investment. Bought by Grey Bull Capital who in my eyes are legalised criminals.
Thomas Cook - miss managed, a lot debt after acquiring My Travel rather then letting it go under and expanding (as Jet2 have always done), wrong strategy re: high street shops.

Both these failures are not down to the performance of the LBA base (ZB) and routes they operated from LBA. Whilst TC withdrew after a year, ZB put up it's own against Jet2 and did quite well. They carved quite a niche market for them at LBA with loyal customers.

As pointed easyJet themselves are a different machine all together and quite a easily recognisable brand. They will do well out of LBA with a BFS route, they would easily do as well with an AMS route serving the business markets. You definitely need a profitably high volume market, a cash cow as it was, and that for all airlines usually bucket & spade and in the form of your PMI's, AGP's, ALC's and FAO's with a number of Canaries. What easyJet would add to LBA, should and if they were to base here, in any number of years down the line, is a hybrid mix of your "usual" and "boring" destinations which deliver good revenue, yield and profit and the business destinations which LBA is in dire need of.

 

[louis_walton]

I agree with you there @Sherburnflyer92 . Monarch had very loyal customers at LBA, especially with their consistent winter frequencies. Mainly with customers that were too snobby for Ryanair but wouldn't pay Jet2 prices. They also helped keep prices competitive at LBA especially on the FAO, APG and PMI routes. It's a shame that Jet2 or another airline (cough, cough easyJet) didn't pick up the lost frequencies on the likes of BCN and NAP. NAP still remains at 2x weekly which is what Monarch also offered.

When Vueling started flying into LBA they competed with Monarch and Jet2 straight of the bat. However, now it's Jet2 on the route solo at quiet a poor frequency. What could have been if Monarch was still around to tell the story at LBA (especially with the planned extra based aircraft)...

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

@louis_walton Jet2 are 4 weekly to BCN. Did they increase after Vueling pulled or was it when Monarch went under?

Quick geek look - Jet2 on the LBA BCN route have been 4 weekly since 2017. They drop down into 2 weekly through the main holiday season (Mid Jul - Mid Sept) but i would assume that is because they can send the aircraft to some Spanish or Turkish or Greek beach destination and get a bring much more money in.

 

[Malaga]

As pointed easyJet themselves are a different machine all together and quite a easily recognisable brand. They will do well out of LBA with a BFS route, they would easily do as well with an AMS route serving the business markets.

How do you know they would? With Jet2 and KLM already on the AMS route, how much meat do you think would be left on the bone!

 

[G-AZNZ(2)]

Last year Lisbon won the best weekend destination...forgot what comp but its a fabulous City.

Fantastic city - went 2 years running 2017/18 my missus loved it that much.
Had to go with Ryanair from the airport in Cheshire!
Incidently, my first flight from LBA was to Lisbon, with my parents, in 1980.
We flew with Britannia - Thomsons did a short programme of fortnightly flights from around June-Sep.
Sadly the route was pulled after only 1 season, but I clearly remember the plane being full!

 

[White Heather]

Incidently, my first flight from LBA was to Lisbon, with my parents, in 1980.
We flew with Britannia - Thomsons did a short programme of fortnightly flights from around June-Sep.
Sadly the route was pulled after only 1 season, but I clearly remember the plane being full!

Sounds about right for Thomson. Nothing has changed.

 

[Silvercity]

Jet2 cancelled the BFS route due to a differing business model which was diversifying more into leisure orientated routes supported by Jet2holidays. BFS probably made the money it needed to in the early early days.



We never had TUI nor TC on the ALC route. Likewise TC never operated into AGP. TUI did for one season but i believe they were feeding more of a cruising side of the business from AGP rather than their own holidays in resorts around the AGP area (which was a add on)

PMI will always be a filler. Any company that can't fill aircraft profitably down to PMI is definitely doing something wrong. I mean in peak summer most aircraft should be leaving most British destinations for PMI full & with good revenue/profit. Did TC ever serve LBA-PMI with it's own metal? I know TUI was a W pattern, the aircraft at LBA & Air Europa but cannot remember TC.



Monarch - miss managed, lost strategy and lack of investment. Bought by Grey Bull Capital who in my eyes are legalised criminals.
Thomas Cook - miss managed, a lot debt after acquiring My Travel rather then letting it go under and expanding (as Jet2 have always done), wrong strategy re: high street shops.

Both these failures are not down to the performance of the LBA base (ZB) and routes they operated from LBA. Whilst TC withdrew after a year, ZB put up it's own against Jet2 and did quite well. They carved quite a niche market for them at LBA with loyal customers.

As pointed easyJet themselves are a different machine all together and quite a easily recognisable brand. They will do well out of LBA with a BFS route, they would easily do as well with an AMS route serving the business markets. You definitely need a profitably high volume market, a cash cow as it was, and that for all airlines usually bucket & spade and in the form of your PMI's, AGP's, ALC's and FAO's with a number of Canaries. What easyJet would add to LBA, should and if they were to base here, in any number of years down the line, is a hybrid mix of your "usual" and "boring" destinations which deliver good revenue, yield and profit and the business destinations which LBA is in dire need of.

Be careful what you wish for ...3 operators on AMS, overkill id say.

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

KLM offer a connecting service and cater for some O/D passengers. Therefore some of the passengers that travel from LBA could be travelling to other destinations beyond AMS therefore the market is more LBA to the destination. The ratio of O/D passengers to Connecting is something we would love to see.

As for Jet2 as i've pointed out they are moving to more leisure orientated routes therefore AMS could be seen as one to get the chop. They have offered this from their initial start up, 17 years back, before their business model changed. On top of this, the route is predominately ran on 737-800's as opposed to the 737-300s. Therefore what happens to the AMS route when Jet2 retire the 737-300's? Im sure Jet2 are aware that they could easily run a 800 to a longer destination, not only make more money due to extra capacity, but also more due to it been a beach destination.

This therefore leaves the market open to another airline. In my eyes, easyJet are the one best placed to take this. The market is their for another carrier to offer this route. Finally easyJet as i've already stated are a recognisable brand and a well known one. They would be a welcome addition to LBA and LBA-AMS, offering something different to the business community. And how many of the MAN-AMS easyJet passengers originate in Yorkshire? That is something i'm sure easyJet are fully aware of. I don't think it will be overkill, i think Jet2 will eventually scrap the LBA AMS route due to the 737-300 retirements and therefore easyJet are the next obvious operator to take over.

 

[JetRob]

. Therefore what happens to the AMS route when Jet2 retire the 737-300's? Im sure Jet2 are aware that they could easily run a 800 to a longer destination, not only make more money due to extra capacity, but also more due to it been a beach destination.

When Jet2 have introduced the 800's onto the AMS route, they have been full. You are correct in saying its not a beach destination, obviously not however the 'city breaks' within the J2H is proving to be popular, hence why they are introducing a new route to Lisbon. My only concern for easyJet on the route would be the competition (that's if easyJet ever do ever fly this route). I'd first like them to do a BFS route and go from there as we are now crying out for that route to come back and easyJet would easily be the best for it.

 

[Malaga]

They would be a welcome addition to LBA and LBA-AMS, offering something different to the business community. And how many of the MAN-AMS easyJet passengers originate in Yorkshire? That is something i'm sure easyJet are fully aware of. I don't think it will be overkill, i think Jet2 will eventually scrap the LBA AMS route due to the 737-300 retirements and therefore easyJet are the next obvious operator to take over.

Why this sudden fixation with Easyjet flying to AMS? Why would they be a welcome addition to this destination? Your argument is only valid if Jet2 come off the route and Easyjet are based at LBA. I am sure if Easyjet ever came to LBA, AMS would not be the first place they would fly to! Nor the second!

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

Why this sudden fixation with Easyjet flying to AMS? Why would they be a welcome addition to this destination? Your argument is only valid if Jet2 come off the route and Easyjet are based at LBA. I am sure if Easyjet ever came to LBA, AMS would not be the first place they would fly to! Nor the second!

There is no fixation. It was one route i've listed amongst the several others listed (if you had been bothered to read that far back) that could be served by easyJet from LBA, IF, they were to set up base. Given that easyJet serve AMS from all but one of their UK bases i'm of the opinion that it would be on their list.

Since you clearly know then that it wouldn't be the first (BFS will be we hope) nor second what is on the agenda should they set up a new base here at LBA? I'm intrigued to know. You clearly know a lot about them.