Route Development & Rumours

[SierraHotel]

LBA rumours rarely materialise.

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

I wouldn't. We need a greater variety of operators to enhance and diversify the destinations.

Agree on the route diversity.

However Wizz are not different to Ryanair and if the later feel threatened they could pull the base. And when Wizz don’t fill the aircraft, cause there’s no guarantee of them doing it at LBA, they too could fly the nest. Then we are left with who?

Part of the reason we won’t get route diversity at the moment is terminal capacity. Once the new extension etc is built I’m hoping LBA get onto Ryanair. I’m also hoping the airport build more stands.

easyJet are a carrier I’d rather then attract over Wizz.

 

[A400]

Why are we getting "excited" about Wizz Air just because 2 members have heard a rumour?

No harm in that. It gets discussions happening.

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

No harm in that. It gets discussions happening.

This is what I'm about. If one discussion thread brings traffic onto the forum then it's a good thing. Regardless if it actually happens.

Because what usually happens is other members go off into other threads and discuss things there too.

EDIT: RE Ryanair. They've not gone that hard into Turkey from UK especially after TC collapse. They do serve all main Turkish tourist airports but from Poland mainly. I wonder if this will be on their agenda in the next few years considering the importance of the Turkish tourism market to UK based operators. They could easily fill a couple flights weekly if not more from LBA to both DLM and AYT. I wonder if they are waiting on more deliveries of the MAX? I hear that MOL is frustrated at the slow down of max deliveries, max 10 certification (which he wants to cram 220 on) and also the deal Boeing offered.

 

[LBA4EVER]

Im still in hope we get turkish (tk) into LBA, makes sense!

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

Im still in hope we get turkish (tk) into LBA, makes sense!

With the connections to the Middle East and Far East they offer a better alternative to EK. And with a narrow-body and not Widebody coupled with O/D it would be easy to fill. I'm sure.

 

[lbaspotter]

We do need competition against Jet2 on the Turkish sun route to Antalya & Dalaman. I'ld take any of the low cost Turkish operators eg Corendon Airlines, Anadolu Jet. Pegasus Airlines or Sun Express, failing that even TUi

For Istanbul it's got to be Turkish Airlines, just because of the worldwide connections they can offer.

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

We do need competition against Jet2 on the Turkish sun route to Antalya & Dalaman. I'ld take any of the low cost Turkish operators eg Corendon Airlines, Anadolu Jet. Pegasus Airlines or Sun Express, failing that even TUi

If TUI Head of UK operations is to be believed (see other thread and the Yorkshire Post) then we may see TUI offer some competition on AYT/DLM.
I've also mentioned that Ryanair seem to avoid Turkey however it could be one for them.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

If TUI Head of UK operations is to be believed (see other thread and the Yorkshire Post) then we may see TUI offer some competition on AYT/DLM.
I've also mentioned that Ryanair seem to avoid Turkey however it could be one for them.

I would welcome Tui at LBA but I doubt they have the will to fly from here. They are only suggesting it may be a possibility to keep bookings up.

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

I would welcome Tui at LBA but I doubt they have the will to fly from here. They are only suggesting it may be a possibility to keep bookings up.

The cynical person in me also thinks this. The reason they are saying LBA is to keep bookings through DSA. I suspect reality is it'll be merged into MAN the base with an additional maybe into EMA.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

The cynical person in me also thinks this. The reason they are saying LBA is to keep bookings through DSA. I suspect reality is it'll be merged into MAN the base with an additional maybe into EMA.

The way I read it was they're not ruling any alernative airports out but equally they're not ruling any in either. Bit of a non story. Also factually inaccurate as they say Wizz no longer fly from DSA.

 

[752]

As Heather has mentioned numerous times in the past, LBA have stated they can and will build stands for more based AC, if TUI decide to shift ops over I'm sure LBA can cope for winter, moving parked AC to other parts of the airfield, im sure FR once had one parked in in the turning circle of the disused runway? and for summer could have stands built in time for the program..?

 

[Jerry]

I would welcome Tui at LBA but I doubt they have the will to fly from here. They are only suggesting it may be a possibility to keep bookings up.

Well if DSA isn't an option anymore and they want to continue to have a based operation in Yorkshire then LBA is going to be their only real option.

 

[XEROX]

With the connections to the Middle East and Far East they offer a better alternative to EK. And with a narrow-body and not Widebody coupled with O/D it would be easy to fill. I'm sure.

Turkish Airlines however impressive their route network may be still doesn't fly to Australia and New Zealand. I think pre-Covid, Oz alone had half a million passengers from the UK, middle eastern carriers are better geolocated for hub and spoke operations that cover more countries.

 

[Len Fish]

With the connections to the Middle East and Far East they offer a better alternative to EK. And with a narrow-body and not Widebody coupled with O/D it would be easy to fill. I'm sure.

O/D-online dating?

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

EK however @XEROX don’t fly to as many thinner Middle Eastern airports. They don’t have as much coverage of Pakistan or Iran or Iraq. They are also predominately wide body which makes the likes of LBA and BRS for that matter unviable. Compared with TK with narrowbody and ranging capacities so suit the market A321 B737800 and so on.

I saw pre covid TK were looking at IST-AUS direct given the PER-LHR success so that is always in the contention. Let’s be honest how many Aus bound journeys start @ LBA?! Probably a very very very small % of that 1,000,000. So in reality the connections that TK offer will be similar going Far East to KLM via AMS - Singapore, Thailand, Japan, China. The best thing about TK is unlike KL, the Pakistan market alone will help assist filling the aircraft. This is all without considering the dire geo-political happenings thanks to Biden at the moment.

 

[XEROX]

EK however @XEROX don’t fly to as many thinner Middle Eastern airports. They don’t have as much coverage of Pakistan or Iran or Iraq. They are also predominately wide body which makes the likes of LBA and BRS for that matter unviable. Compared with TK with narrowbody and ranging capacities so suit the market A321 B737800 and so on.

I saw pre covid TK were looking at IST-AUS direct given the PER-LHR success so that is always in the contention. Let’s be honest how many Aus bound journeys start @ LBA?! Probably a very very very small % of that 1,000,000. So in reality the connections that TK offer will be similar going Far East to KLM via AMS - Singapore, Thailand, Japan, China. This is all without considering the dire geo-political happenings thanks to Biden at the moment.

A quick glance on the Emirates website suggests EK flies to the following cities in Pakistan.....Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Sialkot. Turkish meanwhile only flies to Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. re: wide body wont be an issue if its the Triple 7, or newer A350s.

 

[Sherburnflyer92]

Okay I’ll stand corrected on Pakistan.

A350, 777, 787, all need filling. Compared with TK who offer 150+ seats. TK’s ability to connect with domestic Turkish destinations, Far East, Middle Eastern, African even. You’ve also got Istanbul itself as a draw, for tourism, businesses and originating/departing customers (family and friends traffic).

Turkish also don’t have to worry about performance. An 800, A321 or whatever you choose should be able to lift to Istanbul no problem. There is also no problem with landing neither.

What I’m getting at here is. EK can have the U.K.-AUS market drawn up and making money from it. However a carrier such as TK that’s closer to U.K., has a better flexible fleet that includes 100+ narrow bodies, offering far more regional routes around Middle East which Yorkshire will fill no problem. Australia is irrelevant compared to what can be offered.

 

[Coathanger16]

Turkish has been eyeing up Australia for years, but have been waiting for the right aircraft.

CEO Talks: Turkish Airlines Eyes Nonstop Flight To Australia With A350-1000 or 777X

Turkish Airlines is evaluating whether to use Airbus A350-1000XWB or Boeing 777X aircraft for nonstop services to Australia and is nearing a decision on 30 regional aircraft.

samchui.com

Seems like they're looking at either the A350-1000 or the B777X, although flights wouldn't start until 2026 at the earliest.

Emirates A350 and B787 don't arrive until 2024 & 2025 respectively, and those initial ones will likely go to either increasing frequencies on certain routes or, no disrespect to LBA, launching flights to slightly more high profile new destinations than LBA. Emirates already serves 3 airports in the UK within 100 miles of Leeds, one of which is less than 50 miles away.

 

[White Heather]

Turkish has been eyeing up Australia for years, but have been waiting for the right aircraft.

CEO Talks: Turkish Airlines Eyes Nonstop Flight To Australia With A350-1000 or 777X

Turkish Airlines is evaluating whether to use Airbus A350-1000XWB or Boeing 777X aircraft for nonstop services to Australia and is nearing a decision on 30 regional aircraft.

samchui.com

Seems like they're looking at either the A350-1000 or the B777X, although flights wouldn't start until 2026 at the earliest.

Emirates A350 and B787 don't arrive until 2024 & 2025 respectively, and those initial ones will likely go to either increasing frequencies on certain routes or, no disrespect to LBA, launching flights to slightly more high profile new destinations than LBA. Emirates already serves 3 airports in the UK within 100 miles of Leeds, one of which is less than 50 miles away.

The only airport less than 50 miles from LBA is DSA and they dont go there. MAN is nearer 60 from Leeds by road, not that it makes any difference. The only thing I will say is Emirates is an airline that our previous CEO at LBA mentioned as an airline looking at LBA once we had the new terminal. We're not getting that now so it's unlikely we will get Emirates either, but never say never.