Leeds Bradford: Route Development & Rumours

[Iron Duck]

Monarch

 

[LBAYORKIE]

While it would be nice to have Heathrow back, Gatwick woild offer some useful connections plus the obvious link to back the South of London and the South East Coast.

LGW services always seem to fail eventually. There are some useful connections but not many and even then there has to be a code share or similar to permit through ticketing.

 

[Aviador]

LGW services always seem to fail eventually. There are some useful connections but not many and even then there has to be a code share or similar to permit through ticketing.

That depends on how you categorise failure. A route being pulled doesn't always mean there wasn't demand. The old Gatwick flights were actually often very busy, but domestic routes live and die by yields and slot costs. Historically, airlines ended up pulling regional flights because they could make far more money using those restricted, gold-dust London slots for European routes instead. If an operator can get the yield right and secure the right timings, the demand from West Yorkshire is absolutely there.

 

[SierraHotel]

My concern would be the use of weather sensitive ATR equipment. For connections, reliability is obviously critical.

 

[Aviador]

My concern would be the use of weather sensitive ATR equipment. For connections, reliability is obviously critical.

The ATR is widely considered as the cheapest passenger aircraft to run per seat in its category burning up to 40% less fuel than a similarly sized regional jet. So while its poor weather record at LBA isn't as good as we'd like, it isn't as bad as some people make it out to be.

 

[lbaspotter]

If Emerald Airlines has a BA Codeshare on this proposed Gatwick route the connections would be as follows.

British Airwyas/IAG partnerships & codeshares
British Airways (long Haul) Accra, Antigua, Bangkok, Cancún, Georgetown–Cheddi Jagan,, Grenada, Islamabad, Kingston–Norman Manley, Mauritius, Orlando, Port of Spain, Punta Cana, Rabat, St. Kitts, St. Lucia–Hewanorra, Tobago, Barbados, Colombo–Bandaranaike & Vancouver
British Airways Euroflyer - Agadir, Alicante, Bordeaux, Dubrovnik, Faro, Funchal, Glasgow, Gran Canaria, Graz, Jersey, Lanzarote, Larnaca, Málaga, Malta, Marrakesh, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Porto, Rabat, Salzburg, Seville, Tenerife–South Turin, Verona, Antalya, Bari, Cagliari, Catania, Chambéry, Chania, Corfu, Dalaman, Fuerteventura, Geneva, Grenoble, Heraklion, Ibiza, Innsbruck, Ivalo, Kalamata, Kos, Lyon, Menorca, Montpellier, Paphos, Rhodes, Sharm El Sheikh, Thessaloniki
Iberia Express = Madrid
Qatar Airways - Doha
Royal Air Maroc - Casablanca, Tétouan & Tangier
Air Baltic - Riga, Tallinn & Kuusamo
Jet Blue - Boston
Kenya Airways - Nairobi–Jomo & Kenyatta
Vueling - Alicante, Asturias, Barcelona, Bilbao, Florence, Málaga, Santiago de Compostela, Seville & Valencia

Other one-stop Mid & Long Haul options via Gatwick
Air China - Beijing–Capital, Shanghai–Pudong & Chengdu–Tianfu
Air Arabia - Sharjah & Tangier
Air Europa - Madrid
Air India - Ahmedabad & Amritsar
Air Mauritius- Mauritius
Air Sierra Leone - Banjul & Freetown
Air Transat - Toronto, Montreal & Ottawa
Air Asia X - Bahrain, Kuala Lumpur
Azerbaijan Airlines - Baku
Beijing Capital Airlines - Qingdao
China Southern Airlines- Guangzhou & Zhengzhou
Emirates - Dubai
Ethiopian Airlines - Addis Adaba
Fly Erbril - Erbil
Gulf Air - Bahrain
Norse Atlantic - New York JFK, Orlando, Bangkok & Cape Town
Qanot Sharq - Tashkent
Saudia - Jeddah
Singapore Airlines - Singapore
Tunisair - Tunis
Turkish Airlines - Istanbul
Turkmenistan Airlines - Ashgabat
TUI Airways - Boa Vista, Cancún, Montego Bay, Punta Cana, Sal, Banjul, Barbados, Goa–Mopa, La Romana, Luxor, Marsa Alam, Melbourne/Orlando & Phuket
Uganda Airlines - Entenbbe
Uzbekistan Airlines - Tashkent
Westjets - Halifax & St Johns
Wizz Air - Jeddah & Medina

 

[LBAYORKIE]

The ATR is widely considered as the cheapest passenger aircraft to run per seat in its category burning up to 40% less fuel than a similarly sized regional jet. So while its poor weather record at LBA isn't as good as we'd like, it isn't as bad as some people make it out to be.

How about compared to a dash 8, the last type on the route?

 

[White Heather]

How about compared to a dash 8, the last type on the route?

The Dash 8 was on the Heathrow route, not Gatwick. I seem to recall the ATR72 is cheaper to run than the Dash, but may be wrong.

 

[Finger66]

I think @LBAYORKIE is correct as I am sure Flybe (in some form) did operate to LGW at some time in the past - it's quite a long time ago though

 

[White Heather]

I think @LBAYORKIE is correct as I am sure Flybe (in some form) did operate to LGW at some time in the past - it's quite a long time ago though

It must be! And can't have lasted long. I recall City Flyer Express in BA Landor livery using Shorts 360s and then ATR42s. After that, I had rather a lot going on and the airport took a back seat, so must have missed it.

 

[lbaspotter]

I think @LBAYORKIE is correct as I am sure Flybe (in some form) did operate to LGW at some time in the past - it's quite a long time ago though

It must be! And can't have lasted long. I recall City Flyer Express in BA Landor livery using Shorts 360s and then ATR42s. After that, I had rather a lot going on and the airport took a back seat, so must have missed it.

Flybe operated 3x daily Leeds/Bradford - Gatwick route using Dash 8-Q400 in the gap between BMI British Midland dropping the Heathrow route and British Airways restarting it.

See below for press LBA release on Monday April 20th 2009

Economy Boost For Region As LBIA Announces New Service To London

LBIA played host today (Monday 20th April 2009) to the Yorkshire and Humber Minister, Rt. Hon Rosie Winterton MP, at the launch of a vital new service connecting the region to the capital.

The Minister and business leaders celebrated the introduction of Flybe’s daily service to London Gatwick – providing the only scheduled flights from Yorkshire and the Humber to London.

Tom Riordan, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Forward said: “We welcome the plans for flights to Gatwick from Leeds/ Bradford Airport and see this as an important step in building further links not just with the capital but also with the international business community. We believe this to be an opportunity for Yorkshire and Humber to attract further international inward investment and create additional links for our region’s business network.”

Flybe will begin operating the three times a day London Gatwick service from 29th June 2009 with fares starting at just £24.99 one way, including taxes and charges, to be operated on an environmentally efficient Bombardier Q400. Flights can be booked from today at www.flybe.com.

Flybe says this additional route will create up to 130 jobs for the region. Mike Rutter, Chief Commercial Officer, Flybe commented: “The new service demonstrates Flybe’s commitment to the region, continuing to help the local economy through the development of affordable and convenient business and leisure travel options.”

Rt. Hon Rosie Winterton MP said: “Regular and dependable flights between Leeds Bradford and London are very important for our region’s economy. I warmly welcome the launch of Flybe’s new service to this region, which I know will be extremely well received, particularly by the business community.”

Leisure passengers will also benefit from increased links with Gatwick, offering a local gateway to many long haul destinations, including America, the Caribbean and Dubai.

Tony Hallwood, Leeds Bradford International Airport's Commercial Director, added: “The introduction of this service reinforces our commitment to offer key business and leisure routes to our customers within the UK and beyond. It’s now even easier to fly from Leeds Bradford to London and the rest of the world.

Inbound traffic is equally important to us and we look forward to working with our local tourism partners to increase the number of visitors to Yorkshire from London and the South East.”

Schedule
Monday to Friday
Departs Leeds Bradford at 0900, arrives London Gatwick 1010
Departs Leeds Bradford at 1405, arrives London Gatwick 1515
Departs Leeds Bradford at 1705, arrives London Gatwick 1815
Departs London Gatwick at 0725, arrives Leeds Bradford 0835
Departs London Gatwick at 1230, arrives Leeds Bradford 1340
Departs London Gatwick at 1855, arrives Leeds Bradford 2005
Saturday
Departs Leeds Bradford at 0845, arrives London Gatwick 0955
Departs Leeds Bradford at 1700, arrives London Gatwick 1810
Departs London Gatwick at 0650, arrives Leeds Bradford 0800
Departs London Gatwick at 1525, arrives Leeds Bradford 1635
Sunday
Departs Leeds Bradford at 1400, arrives London Gatwick 1510
Departs Leeds Bradford at 2030, arrives London Gatwick 2140
Departs London Gatwick at 1220, arrives Leeds Bradford 1330
Departs London Gatwick at 1855, arrives Leeds Bradford 2005

 

[LBAYORKIE]

I think @LBAYORKIE is correct as I am sure Flybe (in some form) did operate to LGW at some time in the past - it's quite a long time ago though

I used it over a period of a couple of years.

It must be! And can't have lasted long. I recall City Flyer Express in BA Landor livery using Shorts 360s and then ATR42s. After that, I had rather a lot going on and the airport took a back seat, so must have missed it.

Genair, Air Anglia and Capital as well.

 

[lbaspotter]

Just had another look on ACL Initial slot coordination report for Gatwick winter 2026/2027 and here's a breakdown how many slots Emerald Airlines have applied for.

For Full winter season
They have demand for 924 slots = 220x allocated, 704x unallocated.

Looking at it on a weekly basis eg week 33 (Nov 9th)
They have demand for 21x slots pairs = 5x slots pairs are allocated, 16x slots pairs are still unallocated.

So If I've done my maths right 21x weekly looks to be a 3x daily service, which would be great news for Leeds/Bradford. Lets hope the unallocated slots get approved by the time the full report is published.

 

[Seasider]

Jersey European operated a Dash 8.200 in the summer of 2000.
I think it was a "one summer wonder"