Route Development & Rumours

[Jerry]

I thought the 757 replacement was in the design stages?

From everything I've read the 797 will essentially be a new 767 a twin aisle wide body aircraft.

 

[LBA4EVER]

us plane spotters want to fly twin aisle widebodies lol

 

[LBA4EVER]

the 787 is in a way the new 767 though

 

[Jerry]

the 787 is in a way the new 767 though

I think it was supposed to be but it's possible that it isn't sufficient especially for the US airlines and especially the 8 version I think for many it may be too big for what they want.

 

[AirBingley]

Our sister airport Newcastle has just announced LH to Munich....

Welcome to Newcastle International Airport

Get the latest arrival and departure information and choose from over 80 destinations direct from the North East's largest airport

www.newcastleairport.com

Given the fly bmi loads were reportedly looking good on advance bookings I wonder if we might be next! I'm not looking forward to having to return from my holiday from MAN following the demise of fly bmi and the subsequent flight cancellation from MUC to LBA!

 

[LBA4EVER]

typical we get bmi to munich and bmi goes under then ncl get munich with the flag carrier LH, come on LBA!

 

[LBA4EVER]

Bet if we got LBA to MUC our flights would fill up quicker than NCL But with a few pax back from MAN !!

 

[White Heather]

Well it is the same owners who got Lufthansa in to NCL, and our CEO is on the NCL board, so he knows what is needed. However, he did say last week that the problem at the moment is the terminal and the fact that at times it is at, or above, capacity. That wouldn't be too much of an issue if the flights incoming were arriving at a quiet time of day, but LBA cannot dictate arrival times and airlines will know all about LBA's current problems. The terminal development, when completed, will enhance the LBA product to a degree where airlines won't have such concerns. Whether LBA can attract new airlines in advance of the terminal development or whether they will have to wait until it is completed, remains to be seen. The other problem with Lufthansa of course, is that they already operate into MAN, and whilst NCL is far enough from MAN not to really impact on their flights from there, they may well take the view that flights from LBA would do.

 

[Finger66]

They are though really pushing MUC as a hub just now so who knows!

 

[LBA4EVER]

Turkish airlines or Pegasus to Istanbul would be another succesful route I feel, If once again MAN can support both carriers then why not LBA. Even though MAN is just 45miles or so away we are talking about the cities of Leeds and Bradford plus this side of the country.

 

[LBA4EVER]

As part of a cruise I spent just one day in Lisbon and yes from what saw its a beautiful city with amazing architecture, Bit like VLC and that's another route that would be successful im sure!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I'd recommend Lisbon to anyone. My wife and I visited in 2008 shortly after easyJet began a service from our local airport (BRS) which still operates apparently very successfully.

We visited in February for several days and were fortunate with the weather which was springlike. We used public transport (trams, buses, Metro and trains) to get around and the ancient trams using the narrow, hilly parts of the old city are worth the ride for its own sake.

Trams in Lisbon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Apart from the city itself, nearby towns such as Estoril along the coast with its super beaches and casino with Ian Fleming/James Bond connections are well worth a visit and very easy to reach by train as we found.

 

[Marko1]

I second LYs thoughts about Lisbon . Lovely place. Went with the then fiancé some ten years ago and we are returning with the kids this summer. Those custard tarts are to die for.

 

[White Heather]

Lisbon and Istanbul are both routes that LBA management have said, several times, are on their 'list'. In fact I asked the new CEO about Istanbul on Thursday as I had just read that Pegasus were going daily at MAN, despite the presence of Turkish Airlines there too.

 

[airforced]

Lisbon would be a great addition for Spring and Summer not sure about Winter though, although it would probably pass muster as a year round destination. It is a great city as we found out about 6/7 years ago when on a tour. As Offint says the Pastels de Nata are a wonderful thing to behold (and eat in great fattening quantity) and so cheap too.

The only thing I would add is that you need to stay in the city centre, or close to it, as being outside the city as we were is very inconvenient amd makes it difficuly to get the best out of the place. I think it is one of thos destinations, like Budapest, that would do well as I'm sure Istanbul would too, depending on the sometimes febrile political etc situation there. This potential uncertainty could well put eople and airlines off Istanbul. No such issues with Lisbon currently though.

 

[airforced]

I'll correct errors (crap keyboard on my laptop) in my earlier post by correcting it.

Lisbon would be a great addition for Spring and Summer, not sure about Winter though, although it would probably pass muster as a year round destination. It is a great city as we found out about 6/7 years ago when on a tour. As Offint says the Pastels de Nata are a wonderful thing to behold (and eat in great fattening quantity) and so cheap too.

The only thing I would add is that you need to stay in the city centre, or close to it, as being outside the city, as we were, is very inconvenient and makes it difficuly to get the best out of the place. I think it is one of those destinations, like Budapest, that would do well as I'm sure Istanbul would too, depending on the sometimes febrile political etc situation there. This potential uncertainty could well put people and airlines off Istanbul. No such issues with Lisbon currently though.

 

[airforced]

Thanks once again Offint. Sorry to have troubled you. Do you think Lisbon would work year round?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Lisbon works year-round from Bristol at 5 x weekly summer and winter and has been operating over ten years with easyJet, so I can't see why it would not succeed at LBA as a year-round route.

 

[oldendays]

We have had Lisbon before from LBA, albeit a long time ago and only briefly. I remember Britannia Airways operated a series of flights there in about 1980, Rome and Naples too.

 

[LBA4EVER]

Lisbon, Valencia, Madrid and Istanbul to start with!