Route Development & Rumours

[Bigman]

More chance of Cross Country reintroducing direct rail services which is pretty much zero.

 

[HX3]

Perhaps an alternative is Aurigny to Guernsey via Southampton, with an increased frequency? I did flybe Jersey via Sou and that worked fine, even on the return leg when you de boarded to clear immigration.

 

[AirBingley]

I seem to remember Flybe operated a non based SOU - LBA - ABZ flight for a few seasons so there is no reason why this can't be done which works well for LBA as no overnight parking needed but the times can still be relatively business friendly 2x a day.

 

[Seasider]

I think that it only lasted for one season - 2015 - when I went to Jersey to celebrate my 65th birthday. I couldn't understand why we had to deboard at SOU on the inbound flight but not on the outbound.

 

[HX3]

It’s because Jersey is Common Travel Area as a Crown Dependancy and not part of the United Kingdom, therefore the checks have to be done on entering the UK. Otherwise there would be a mix of non UK CTA passengers and UK domestic passengers progressing from Sou. On the arrival into Jersey, everyone has entered from the UK and therefore progress as a CTA arrival. That’s my understanding, but happy to be corrected if this isn’t the case.

 

[Starflyer]

Correct, it's a customs requirement because Jersey is outside the EU (at that time) and the UK today.

SOU-LBA-ABZ might not be beyond the realms of possibility in time - they have bases at both ends as of November. If SOU-MAN also goes well (and there's every reason why it should) then it might encourage some more flying at the new SOU base within 12 months, particularly if another airline is sniffing around the same opportunities, which seems to be a motivator for them as well.

 

[LBA787]

Bleak outlook for LBA with this weeks news from over the hill:-

Qatar airways are to further increase MAN-DOH to 25xweekly (4 daily on 3 days)

Turkish upgrading many of their 4 daily flights from A321 to A330 / 77W and some days now show 5 daily flights to book.

Disappointing as I really hoped Turkish were the ones for LBA!

 

[Aviador]

Bleak outlook for LBA with this weeks news from over the hill:-

Qatar airways are to further increase MAN-DOH to 25xweekly (4 daily on 3 days)

Turkish upgrading many of their 4 daily flights from A321 to A330 / 77W and some days now show 5 daily flights to book.

Disappointing as I really hoped Turkish were the ones for LBA!

As Jet2 did in the beginning, it only takes one operator to start ops from LBA and it won't go unnoticed. Sooner or later an airline like Turkish will set up stall in Leeds.

 

[lbaspotter]

Bleak outlook for LBA with this weeks news from over the hill:-

Qatar airways are to further increase MAN-DOH to 25xweekly (4 daily on 3 days)

Turkish upgrading many of their 4 daily flights from A321 to A330 / 77W and some days now show 5 daily flights to book.

Disappointing as I really hoped Turkish were the ones for LBA!

Neither operate out of LBA, so it’s no loss to us at the moment,

To be honest I don’t think it would be right time to introduce routes operated by a big operator such as Turkish Airlines or Qatar Airways until the full project #REG#REGEN is completed.
The isn’t room for them at the moment, also the is going to be a lot more disruption next winter when they start knocking bits out of the existing terminal.

So surely it’s best to wait until next year? The terminal REGEN project will be completed which will make moving the extra passengers around more comfortably. We will also have some extra stands available so to take any increased aircraft movements.

Oh and we should even have a resolution on the night time aircraft movements quota by then.

 

[White Heather]

Neither operate out of LBA, so it’s no loss to us at the moment,

To be honest I don’t think it would be right time to introduce routes operated by a big operator such as Turkish Airlines or Qatar Airways until the full project #REG#REGEN is completed next year.
The isn’t room for them at the moment, also the is going to be a lot more disruption next winter when they start knocking bits out of the existing terminal.
So surely it’s best to wait until next year? The terminal will be able to take the extra passengers comfortably and we will have some extra stand available to take increased aircraft movements.

Absolutely right. Such airlines wouldn't entertain LBA until LBA Regen is completed. I very much doubt LBA would wish to handle them yet either.

 

[Jerry]

As Jet2 did in the beginning, it only takes one operator to start ops from LBA and it won't go unnoticed. Sooner or later an airline like Turkish will set up stall in Leeds.

Will they though? Or would it just be easier to add extra flights at Manchester like they have done now? And i'm not trying to be negative but LBA only really has one hub route going eastbound. It doesn't have CDG in the form of Air France or Frankfurt/Munich or Heathrow compared to say Newcastle. Maybe those routes are more realistic in the more immediate future than Istanbul with Turkish or Doha with Qatar Airways.

 

[HX3]

Pegasus are starting Istanbul from Bristol, so they might consider LBA and have less expectations on facilities in the interim?(pre Regen completion)

 

[gulftraveller]

Airlines are not hugely interested in the facilities, particularly the LCCs. Where it would matter is if an airline could not get slots at the time they wanted.

PGT would be a very good option for LBA. TK seemed to have gone quiet on UK expansion: they have said they intend to launch NCL and GLA but nothing has happened. As for QTR, they have said they are not interested in the A321XLR which makes narrow body ops from UK very marginal.

 

[White Heather]

Airlines are not hugely interested in the facilities, particularly the LCCs. Where it would matter is if an airline could not get slots at the time they wanted.

PGT would be a very good option for LBA. TK seemed to have gone quiet on UK expansion: they have said they intend to launch NCL and GLA but nothing has happened. As for QTR, they have said they are not interested in the A321XLR which makes narrow body ops from UK very marginal.

Surely, expansion by Sun Express, who are already here, and part owned by Turkish (along with Lufthansa) is more likely than Pegasus coming in ( ignoring the fact they previously operated charters here around 20 years ago). Pegasus would be nice, but my understanding is that they are most likely, for now at least, to concentrate on MAN. The desire for Turkish was more about their onward connections from IST which would be very useful.

 

[Aviador]

Will they though? Or would it just be easier to add extra flights at Manchester like they have done now? And i'm not trying to be negative but LBA only really has one hub route going eastbound. It doesn't have CDG in the form of Air France or Frankfurt/Munich or Heathrow compared to say Newcastle. Maybe those routes are more realistic in the more immediate future than Istanbul with Turkish or Doha with Qatar Airways.

Yes. Just one of the middle eastern airlines operating aircraft such as the A321XLR stands to gain a major advantage over airlines operating larger aircraft from hub airports. Regional departures have the potential to capture a sizable number of passengers who would prefer to fly from their local airport. It's no different from the middle eastern airlines offering Manchester initially removing the need for people to travel via Heathrow. This will likely be the next step enabling smaller regional airports like LBA, BRS, EMA and even CWL to expand into. It will potentially have as big an impact as the low cost airlines did on regional airports. Airbus have stopped producing the A380. Airlines are already opting for smaller more flexible aircraft options so it's only a matter of time before we see airlines taking flight from the regions.

 

[Jerry]

Just one of the middle eastern airlines operating aircraft such as the A321XLR stands to gain a major advantage over airlines operating larger aircraft from hub airports.

Do they though really? The A321LR hasn't led to US carriers launching regional UK routes i generally don't see why it would be the same for the Middle East sadly. It's more likely they'd just use them to increase frequency at the bigger airports.

so it's only a matter of time before we see airlines taking flight from the regions.

Sorry but I'm not so optimistic as you in that regard.

 

[Finger66]

Go back a few years and would we have ever said the LCCs would be flying as much as they do from regionals? The point here is who knows where things will be in say 10 years time. In this industry we all love, we know it never ceased to amaze us so I wouldn't be ruling anything out

 

[Jerry]

Go back a few years and would we have ever said the LCCs would be flying as much as they do from regionals? The point here is who knows where things will be in say 10 years time. In this industry we all love, we know it never ceased to amaze us so I wouldn't be ruling anything out

Short haul leisure and long haul schedules are very different though.

 

[pug]

Bleak outlook for LBA with this weeks news from over the hill:-

Qatar airways are to further increase MAN-DOH to 25xweekly (4 daily on 3 days)

Turkish upgrading many of their 4 daily flights from A321 to A330 / 77W and some days now show 5 daily flights to book.

Disappointing as I really hoped Turkish were the ones for LBA!

Understand your viewpoint, but I suppose it demonstrates a growth in demand!

 

[Aviador]

Understand your viewpoint, but I suppose it demonstrates a growth in demand!

... and for growth outside the usual market.