Route Development

[lbaspotter]

It has been reported that DSA are losing the NQY route, only BHD and AMS are scheduled to operate this winter.

Doncaster Sheffield will in fact lose 8 flybe routes to Alicante, Dublin, Faro, Jersey, Malaga, Newquay, Palma and Paris CDG. They will only have 2 routes remaining with Amsterdam (daily) and Belfast City (4x weekly)

 

[LBAYORKIE]

The feedback on this forum regarding the NQY route from LBA has been very positive. Has it been mis-reported or are FlyBe just rationalising for the sake of it?

 

[Starflyer]

Newquay is gone - finishing at the end of the summer, will not be operated this winter and the strong signals are that it will not be in the plan in Summer 2020 either. With the longevity of the DUS base also in question, that's also at high risk.

 

[Aviador]

Recent figures posted to the Cardiff airport forum show Qatar Airways is now carrying average load factors of 70%. This is great news for Cardiff airport but also for airports such as Leeds Bradford who will be looking on with great interest. Now some might argue Leeds Bradford will never be able to offer flights to the Middle East with the likes of Manchester airport in it's shadows. On the contrary, Leeds is a growing vibrant city, with an airport with a catchment area significantly larger than Cardiff Airports. Some will say why would they offer flights from Leeds as well as Manchester. The answer is simple. It's unlikely all the Middle Eastern airlines will offer flights from both Leeds and Manchester airports so the first one will capture the market and take custom away from the competing airlines from their Manchester base. It would be a bold move but one that is likely to pay off for the airline shrewd enough to make that move.

 

[Aviador]

Wishful thinking Aviador....when the airlines see there is only a 59 mile gap between them they will always opt for MAN as its a no brainer regarding runway length, weather conditions, airport with escalators that actually work as do their baggage belts. I love LBA but until the main extension works are finished we have no chance.

Glasgow and Edinburgh are only 46 miles apart and they both have at least 1 of the Middle East airlines with a catchment area the same size as Yorkshire.

 

[Bobby Ham]

Zero chance of Qatar coming to LBA, same for Emirates and Etihad. The best they could hope for is a daily 737 or A320 to Istanbul. The airport no longer wants to attract legacy carriers or scheduled long haul, they're happy with the bucket and spade flights and BA and KLM giving them connections to their networks. It's time people put down their rose tinted binoculars, the airport has found its niche, it's not going to deviate from that path.

 

[Aviador]

There aren't any rose tinted glasses where I am stood. I think it is perfectly plausible to expect a Middle East carrier at some point in the future. What airlines will look at is airports handling over 4m passengers a year. Clearly LBA does have the potential. I don't know why people don't think it's achievable.

 

[Deleted member 82]

Interestingly the Middle East hubs of Abu Dhabi and Dubai are only 79 miles away from each other and Dubai to Sharjah is just 15 miles. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are distinct cities in the UAE but have lots of overlap on cities served, this is possible due to onward feed via the hub and spoke set up. LBA being relatively close to MAN is not an issue, it is the potential to feed into the hubs in their own right that is the appeal. Open a new route from Leeds rather than a third/fourth route from Manchester and you can tap into a new market without impacting your existing market. You can charge a slight premium to offset new costs and test the market. With the right aircraft and marketing LBA Is no more of a risk than anywhere else and Qatar or someone like Turkish Airlines would be good options for starters

 

[louis_walton]

I think a Pakistan route or India route would suit LBA even more however I think the main problems right now should be sorting out European connectivity. We need better links to Paris, Munich, Berlin,Frankfurt and Madrid to be taken seriously I will say it now and a million times in the future. These services are essential for the airport to improve.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

There aren't any rose tinted glasses where I am stood. I think it is perfectly plausible to expect a Middle East carrier at some point in the future. What airlines will look at is airports handling over 4m passengers a year. Clearly LBA does have the potential. I don't know why people don't think it's achievable.

CWL currently handles 1.6 million passengers a year and got itself the Qatar route. It will be relying mainly on inbound and outbound passengers to South Wales as it won't pick up that many from the neighbouring West Country as LHR is the default airport for long haul travel from the Bristol area. Bristol's propensity to use the relatively close LHR for long haul was one of a number of reasons why Qatar plumped for CWL instead of the much busier BRS with its larger and more prosperous core catchment, according to the airline's CEO.

The decision was a huge surprise to many people, including some of the CEO's own staff who had doubts which the CEO admitted publicly, so would a LBA service be a bigger surprise?

If South Wales' two million population can support a Qatar service why not LBA, in spite of MAN? This is a genuine question not a rhetorical one.

 

[Aviador]

Furthermore a Middle Eastern service isn't just going to compete with services from Manchester, but from Newcastle, Birmingham and perhaps more importantly Heathrow.

 

[Aviador]

@TheLocalYokel Interesting comment regarding the default airport for long haul being Heathrow. The default airport for many flights short and long haul in the Leeds and wider city region is Manchester airport but imagine if you could fly to Doha or Dubai from Leeds and the default airport will change for many people. Similar can be said for the Bristol area.

 

[Silvercity]

There aren't any rose tinted glasses where I am stood. I think it is perfectly plausible to expect a Middle East carrier at some point in the future. What airlines will look at is airports handling over 4m passengers a year. Clearly LBA does have the potential. I don't know why people don't think it's achievable.

Liverpool could be in their considerations too with 5M pax plus known worldwide.

 

[Bobby Ham]

Just bizarre. Fantasy over logic, spotting over business. I'll leave you to your world of rainbows and unicorns.

 

[Deleted member 82]

Bobby not at all. Leeds and Bradford city regions have multiple diaspora populations with a propensity to fly. Most of those diasporas originate east of those hubs, therefore tapping into them is not fantasy. I like rainbows and unicorns but I never mix them with business..... A Middle East route will happen from LBA it is just a matter of time

 

[louis_walton]

Hopefully the terminal extension will see the arrival of more legacy carriers. Air France and Lufthansa really are needed. Would be great if Iberia also jumped in but it seems unlikely. Easyjet serves all the routes but they seem also very unlikely to jump in (it may be possible with non based aircraft).

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Just bizarre. Fantasy over logic, spotting over business. I'll leave you to your world of rainbows and unicorns.

Can you honestly say you would not have said something similar about a Qatar route at CWL before it was announced?

 

[White Heather]

Zero chance of Qatar coming to LBA, same for Emirates and Etihad. The best they could hope for is a daily 737 or A320 to Istanbul. The airport no longer wants to attract legacy carriers or scheduled long haul, they're happy with the bucket and spade flights and BA and KLM giving them connections to their networks. It's time people put down their rose tinted binoculars, the airport has found its niche, it's not going to deviate from that path.

Simply not true. Where do you get such comments from? LBA have made it very clear that they DO want to attract long haul - hence the design of the terminal extension with holding lounges big enough to cater for wide body aircraft. Only last year they made comments regarding having to change the previous regime of concentrating on bucket and spade routes and the need to change that. by attracting more routes and carriers that are business orientated. Don't make statements as fact that are completely not the case.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

I think it would be reassuring to know that the policy of diversification into more business oriented traffic and attracting a wide body operator is endorsed by the new director.

 

[paully]

I think it would be reassuring to know that the policy of diversification into more business oriented traffic and attracting a wide body operator is endorsed by the new director.

I have no doubt that was the view held by David Laws, but look how that ended..A reassurance from the new owners would be most welcome.