Bristol Airport - Route News

[Finger66]

Elsewhere on latestairlinenews it has been reported that CWL will be a daily service for QR but it didn't specify an aircraft type

 

[Sierra3]

Apologies Forest, I read your post in the General Forum after I had finished typing!

Thank you TLY for your welcome. It seems there is a common view on most likely best strategy for BRS.

My point about connections with far east carriers in particular was to avoid the middle east altogether. There is unlikely to be much O&D traffic CWL - DOH, other than perhaps in 2022(!), so most passengers will be making onward connections at DOH (e.g. VFR traffic such as TLY's annual trip).

I see the opportunity at BRS more for the VFR and eastbound business markets, so rather than (e.g.) CWL-DOH-MEL, there could be (e.g.) BRS-MXP/ZRH-SIN/HKG/BKK-MEL with good stopover options. OK it's an extra stop, but it's a long journey anyway.

I used MXP as a specific example because:

a) it is one of the few large European airports which does not have a 'home' long haul carrrier (notionally this would be AZ, although they are seemingly on the brink of administration again and they only have 3 long haul destinations from MXP anyway)
b) several of the far east carriers offer services at MXP (CX, SQ, TG)
c) BM already has a presence at MXP, albeit as TLY points out primarily for Leonardo (I have used this service on a couple of occasions - at sale fares of course - despite having no connection with Leonardo), but there may be opportunities for additonal codeshares which could underpin a larger aircraft and more palatable fares.

Obviously the Brexit effect is still a major unknonwn and BM is not the only game in town, however their dedicated departure lounge at BRS adds to the experience.

Interesting that BRS sees LHR as the main opposition. With BA seemingly leading the race to the bottom in terms of product 'enhancements', this looks to be a great opportunity for BRS to encourage more passengers who are fed up with LHR/BA to try a better quality alternative, provided that the price point is competitive and layovers not too onerous.

The BRS SWOT analysis would make very interesting reading at the moment!

Very much agreed, though a few BMI E jets over MXP is limited in volumes - it would at least be a start.

BRS lacks quality feed over Europe or most other possible connecting airports in any volume. Maybe because its still viewed by legacy carriers (probably incorrectly) as a bucket & spade service provider. If & when it hits 10mppa maybe that will change; but it would result in more than one carrier per major European destination, which is contrary to the airport's policy.

As for BA / LHR and the southeast airports they're almost maxed out, the best that can be achieved there are minor incremental pax increases; so 'leakage' should fall, which would be an 'S' in the BRS SWOT analysis. If (& a big one) all LHR's 3rd runway plans go to the latest version its still 2028 before its completed, where will BRS be by then, 15mppa?

 

[Jerry]

Very much agreed, though a few BMI E jets over MXP is limited in volumes - it would at least be a start.

If BMI got bigger aircraft ie E170s then it could provide a bigger volume for connecting services to places like FRA and MUC using it's Lufthansa codeshare. Also there could be the possibilty of codeshare with Etihad through MUC and MXP.

 

[Kernow Bravo]

In this wider debate, the other unknown is the extent of BM's relationship with LH group companies (after all the SN BRS-BRU is also operated with BM aircraft) and whether that may preclude wider code shares. IIRC bmi was at least part owned by LH before the mainline operation was sold to BA, although bmi Regional, having minimal LHR presence, was less attractive to BA and therefore excluded from that deal.

If there are strong ties to LH companies, then Jerry's suggestion of E170s makes a lot of sense, as does potentially introducing a ZRH (or VIE) codeshare service, or indeed attracting 2L/LX/OS to those routes. Of course BM are rostering the CityJet SSJs on the CDG rotations, which may be a sign of intent or simply a stop-gap to facilitate the ramp-up of their BHX operation (which in itself comes under the 'T' in SWOT).

In the last couple of years I have booked a couple of connecting trips to Europe ex BRS. Usually I find LH to offer good frequencies with reasonable connections but highly uncompetitive prices - not sure if this is due to the capacity constraints of the ER4s or wider pricing considerations. I have also looked at KL, but I have usually found SN to be the best value for my requirements albeit their route network is limited. There are very good chocolate shops at BRU, however, which also mitigates any objections from my travelling companion(!), but in future we would forego such delights in favour of the much wider LH network if more viably-priced.

Unfortunately there is an element of uncertainty due to Brexit and that obviously does not help, but then again the QR announcement indicates a fair level of confidence in the future, so one would hope that BRS is encouraged to chase some of the many potential opportunities which have been discussed here.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

BM was indeed fully owned by Lufthansa which sold the constituents in the way you describe apart from bmi baby which could not find a buyer, although there were strong rumours of potential interest at the time.

The CityJet SSJs were only used for a month on the CDG service although since then CityJet aircraft have been used on the odd occasion- a week or two ago a CityJet ARJ stood in for an ERJ on a BRS-DUS-BRS rotation.

The reported reason for the short lease of the SSJ was a temporary shortage of aircraft because of C checks, with the BRS spare having to be taken into regular use across the network as well.

A few months ago a senior spokesman for AIL, bmir's owners, cited BRS-FRA as an example of a route that could accommodate larger aircraft when he was discussing the plan.

However, one might be surprised at the idea of larger aircraft as bmir's load factors across its network in 2015 was 54.6%, almost identical to the previous year. Their often eye-watering fares no doubt ensure they can operate with these sorts of loads.

In the year before LH sold BM it was strongly rumoured that LH would return to the BRS-FRA route (which they had operated for a year in 2008-2009 with a probable overkill of 3 x daily - 21 weekly - Eurowings Bae 146-300 aircraft) using regional ERJs. As we now know this happened when bmir was sold.

100,000 people were carried in that year which shows a market exists - just have to pitch the service correctly. The recession was at its height and the BRS route was the newest (of three in the area - LHR, BHX, BRS) so LH chopped it but with hints that it would return in calmer economic times.

 

[Kernow Bravo]

Well I am not a regular BM customer, but the load factor on the BRS-MXP I took about a month ago was around 98% (I was sat in the last row and the single seat across the aisle from me was the only vacant one on the aircraft). It was a Friday though, so the coach up from Yeovil was probably close to full.

It would be interesting to find out the LFs at BRS because that network-wide average probably betrays signficant fluctuation between individual routes and days/times of flights.

Needless to say, if BRS sees LHR as it's main competitor and it is not aggressively courting new airlines, then BM is a prime candidate for partnering towards those objectives. BM appears to be focused on niche routes supporting underlying business-focused markets, which is fair enough, although as a strategy it seems to limit scope for expansion, and is somewhat fragile (e.g. a while back there was talk of Leonardo pulling out of Yeovil, which would have meant the end of BRS-MXP).

Sooner or later BM will presumably need to take the plunge with larger/newer aircraft, driven by a strategy which is less reliant on the uncertainty of big business decisions, particularly in the current climate. Hopefully BRS will be in a position to facilitate and benefit from that growth. FlyBE also seems to be chasing the connection/code share traffic at the moment, and of course the EXT catchment in particular is that much further from LHR/LGW. However, BE offer a rather different value proposition to BM!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

http://www.scotsman.com/news/transp...hief-of-airline-investments-limited-1-4146128

The above is a link to the comment I made about bmir saying that BRS-FRA needed larger aircraft. In fact the reference was Bristol to Germany - presumably meaning FRA and MUC. I doubt that DUS or HAM would need larger aircraft, albeit HAM is used by both Airbus and Imperial Tobacco people.

I used to regularly record the bmir regional loads at BRS each month and post them to this forum. However, it became a bit of a chore as the airline was (still is at times) in the habit of cancelling flights and it became necessary to research which flights each month operated which was time consuming.

Looking back, the last time I seem to have recorded the details was for June 2015 which are shown in the below 'quote'. Looking at the monthly loads these days I doubt that the load factors have changed all that much since.

June 2015 Passenger Numbers

The German routes were as follows:

Frankfurt 4,210 passengers
Hamburg 1,523 passengers
Munich 2,836 passengers
Dusseldorf 1,029 passengers

The first three saw average loads of 29/30 giving load factors in the region of 60%. The new route, DUS, was not as prolific with an average load just under 20 giving a load factor of around 40%.

Milan MXP carried 934 passengers which is an average load of 27.5, load factor 56%.

Aberdeen was down 13% on June 2014 to 2,466 which is an average load of 25.7, load factor 52.5%. ABZ as an airport has had a challenging few months following the oil price slump and many UK routes to the Granite City saw substantial passenger falls in June.

Paris CDG was up against easyJet so it was not possible to ascertain bmi regional's share. However, the route itself increased from 9,020 in June 2014 to 12,076 this June. easyJet had the same number of rotations as last year except that this year they used more A 320s.

Nevertheless, it seems likely the bmi regional saw a load factor at least approaching 50%.

Nantes didn't begin until July.

None of these are huge load factors but, given the very high fares that bmi regional usually charges, it must be hoped that most of the routes are sustainable.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Nothing new to get excited about but a reminder that this week sees the resumption of Thomson flights to Cancun (starting Saturday 6th) and to Sanford, Orlando (starting Sunday 7th) after they pulled out of these routes at the end of Summer 2013, prior to the imminent disposal of the former First Choice Boeing 767-300s that were used on them. The Boeing 787-8 should be a new experience for many passengers.

Another route making a comeback is Almeria that Thomas Cook commences this Saturday 6th. The last time I can remember this route being operated was in the mid to late 1980s with if my memory is correct Thomson and their Britannia Airways. I don't think it lasted more than a summer or two. Let's hope that this time it is far more long-lasting.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Amongst the inevitable negativity surrounding BRS at the moment, it's as well to remember that there will be some new routes this year. I've had an email from the airport reminding me that the following will commence in 2019.

Milan Malpensa - Ryanair
Rhodes and Montpellier - easyJet
Thessaloniki and Marrakech - TUI
Aberdeen - Loganair

 

[Seasider]

Surely Aberdeen is not a new route but a new airline.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Surely Aberdeen is not a new route but a new airline.

That's true.

Rhodes is only a new route for easyJet. TUI and Thomas Cook also fly there from BRS.

Milan Malpensa was dropped by flybmi last year and Thessaloniki comes and goes with TUI - last operated in summer 2016. Marrakech used to be operated by easyJet and before that Ryanair. Even Montpellier was operated for a summer season by Ryanair nine years ago.

So none of the routes are brand new in the sense that they've never been operated in the past from the airport.

 

[Seasider]

Good piece of spin?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Good piece of spin?

A splendid googly to boot. I think that airports and airlines are better spinners than Shane Warne. Only politicians can beat them.