Vueling

[TheLocalYokel]

a mate of mine wanted to fly to bcn this winter from cwl. been told that all vueling flts from cwl are suspended for 6 weeks this winter. its in november and january.
any one knw anything. if confirmed its the last thing cwl wants.

It's been known for a few months that there was going to be a mid-winter break at CWL with Vueling this winter. Originally it seemed there might be no flights at all but then a programme was put in showing flights until 19 November after which they would take a break. Two rotations will operate over Christmas before another break with the programme resuming on 13 January.

Last winter Vueling flew in the winter for the first time from CWL with 2 x weekly rotations to both Malaga and Alicante. That will occur this winter except for the breaks mentioned above.

Barcelona was not flown from CWL last winter nor was it ever announced for this winter so it's not a case of that one being pulled.

It isn't uncommon for airlines to suspend routes over the winter period especially year two onwards when they've gauge how well the routes yield is performing during the quieter winter season.

Charter companies including the major ones such as Thomson often used to fly to a destination from some UK airports from early November until the third week in November, then take a rest but sometimes coming back for Christmas/New Year, before taking another rest and resuming in mid February.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I read in another forum that Vueling will increase their Alicante and Malaga programme from CWL next summer from 3 x weekly to 4 x weekly to both. It's a bit more positive news that will help the expansion.

 

[Em0866]

HI Local. Yes I saw that too. It is obvious that these are their best performing routes out of CWL so they must be confident that they'll get bums on seats next year if they are increasing their service. I am glad that they have given these routes a chance to bed in and become established.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

HI Local. Yes I saw that too. It is obvious that these are their best performing routes out of CWL so they must be confident that they'll get bums on seats next year if they are increasing their service. I am glad that they have given these routes a chance to bed in and become established.

Hello E m

The summer sun routes at CWL have always sold well in terms of numbers of passengers as I know you are aware. It's good that Vueling now recognises this from 'personal' experience and is upping its presence a bit. There might yet be more expansion from them to the sun.

I wonder if Ryanair is looking seriously at some sun routes. Many were expecting at least a bit of extra Ryanair frequency to TFS this coming winter as loads seem to have been very good for the most part even though one rotation a week is a bit restricting in terms of variable holiday lengths.

 

[Em0866]

Yes they have always sold well from CWL. Of course they could be stamping their authority on both thsee routes so it would not allow room for other airlines to try...e.g. Flybe perhaps? After saying that I don't see why Flybe doesn't do a twice weekly to MJV as Baby did before they left CWL using larger aircraft. I am sure the market is there for that route.

Sorry for going off topic but I don't quite understand why FR still only have one flight a week to TFS, unless they are waiting for S16 to offer some other routes which could work for them. We just have to wait and see

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Sorry for going off topic but I don't quite understand why FR still only have one flight a week to TFS, unless they are waiting for S16 to offer some other routes which could work for them. We just have to wait and see

That may well be the case.

 

[jfy1999]

Flybe could well start MJV as their E195's have the range, but are those in their long term plans? They are currently being used on the high density routes (CDG, AMS) but I still don't know whether they are to be phased out altogether.

 

[marsh.ger]

Cardiff Airport has today announced that Vueling will offer 30,000 additional seats for Summer 2016.

Malaga and Alicante will operate up to 4 times per week all year round
Palma Majorca operates up to 3 times a week from March 28th and 4 times per week between June and September
Barcelona operates up to 3 times per week from March 25th.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Many thanks. A nice little increase with perhaps more to come in future years. As I know you will be aware bmi baby used to operate ALC and AGP daily in peak summer, albeit their aircraft were not as large, passenger capacity-wise, as the Vueling A 320.

Nevertheless, with CWL's particular strength being summer sun it's not the Silly Season to suggest that the likes of ALC and AGP could easily become daily in summer.

 

[Em0866]

This is really good news by Vueling. They must have confidence to offer that amount of extra seats for next year. I think locals are finally giving them a chance rather than heading over to BRS. As it happens earlier this week I booked a flight to ALC from CWL with Vueling for February 2016. It was cheaper than with EZY from BRS by a £30. Add in the petrol and bridge coming back and it's quite a healthy saving. This will be the first time I have used CWL since 2008!

 

[Aviador]

Good to see Vueling doing well from Cardiff airport. The Vueling brand will be becoming well known in the area and by the big two competing airlines across the Severn. The additional commitment shows there is money to be made at the airport and I am sure we will be seeing more from them over the next couple of years or so.

 

[Em0866]

I am not happy with Vueling. I made a flight booking for a few days to ALC from CWL a few weeks ago. This was great as flight times were very good and it was £30 cheaper return than flying from BRS with EZY. Today I got an email from Vueling saying that my flight times had changed. Whereas the flight was leaving CWL originally at 11:05am and landing early afternoon, the flights are now leaving CWL at 8.45pm and landing just after midnight. I know things like this happen sometimes but why so late? The only good thing from this is that I can get a full refund and make alternative arrangements...which will mean a schlep across the Bridge to BRS.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

That's more than annoying. Are your dates early November? If so, is Vueling flying this 'night shift' for the entire winter?

Even if they are they surely ought to have known when you booked given it was so recent.

Is the return flight an evening one? If so at least you would get nearly a full day in resort on the day you return. However, getting there so late on the outbound is not my idea of a perfect start to a holiday.

 

[Em0866]

The flight out is on 20 February and return on the 24th. Only 2 flights a week at this time of year, but the return flight is unchanged. I have spoken to Vueling who say that they can refund the outgoing flight if I want to cancel but not the return. Alternatively they say I can change my external flight at no extra cost. Abysmal! After a long discussion over the phone I have now been given a full refund...I will think twice about booking a flight with them again. Now to find alternative flights!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

That's not good at all. It's not the sort of thing that CWL would want either as it strives to attract more local passengers back into its fold.

Back in (I think) 2008 easyJet cancelled two of our (my wife me) bookings BRS-EDI-BRS and BRS-NCL-BRS. They did give us about a months notice and it was the summer when numerous easyJet flights were cancelled around the country in June because, it was strongly rumoured, the airline was having problems with its pilots' hours and wanted to ensure they had plenty left for the main summer season.

It cost me over one pound on a premium phone line to get our money back. That would have been a nice little earner multiplied by the many thousands affected across the country. It left a nasty taste in the mouth and easyJet wasn't our flavour of the month for quite a while after that.

We've used them since on numerous occasions and, fingers crossed, have not had any sort of problem.

 

[Em0866]

This is not good, not just for CWL but for VY too. I am more annoyed than anything as I really wanted to fly from CWL on those specific dates.

I have flown with EZY many times from BRS over the years and I have never had any issues with them. The last time was back in April to FAO and the new seats, although fixed and slimmer, are much more comfortable than the old seats they used to have.

 

[superking]

i see vueling was due to carry s 300.000 pax yesterday the 2nd december since it started ops from there.it was a shame the flt got diverted to bhx with pax bussed to bhx.
a pity that happened,as i dont know if it was tech issues or just operational ones.be nice to know if pax bussed out of an airport to another is pax are still counted.
vueling has been a good thing for cwl, going from strength to strength, with extra rotations and next summer season extended on various routes.
long may it continue,shows the bucket and spade routes work out of cwl.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I agree that Vueling has gradually built up a very good presence at CWL over the past four years.

Barcelona is a summer route that will recommence at the end of March at 3 x weekly, rising to 4 x weekly from June for the peak summer, then operating at 2/3 x weekly in the latter part of September and in October.

Palma is another summer route that will operate all summer in 2016 at 2 x weekly until May when it increases to 3 x weekly before reducing to 2 x weekly for October.

Alicante and Malaga are year-round routes that both operate 2 x weekly in winter, 3 x weekly in March and April, then 4 x weekly from May before dropping to 3 x weekly in October.

As superking says, summer bucket and spade routes to the popular resorts traditionally work well at CWL and it might be that Vueling could be even more adventurous in its peak summer frequencies to ALC and AGP.

For all the criticism it received from some quarters in its later days at CWL bmi baby used to fly daily to ALC and AGP in summer in competition with the main charter airlines.

 

[Em0866]

I have just returned from Spain using the Vueling CWL-ALC route. My first time experience of this airline so I didn't know what to expect when I booked. I chose it as the dates I was looking at it worked out a lot cheaper than flying from BRS with EZY. I paid extra for more room for the legs which I would have done if flying from BRS anyway.

Service was good and the cabin crew were friendly, efficient and professional. Food served at a charge was reasonable, and I think the price for coffees etc compared well to EZY or other Lo-cost carriers. Seats were comfortable, and not they bulky kind that EZY are slowly getting rid of. I'd definitely be using them again when I fly out to ALC next time, or if I fly to AGP, BCN or PMI.

As an aside, there were only 2 or 3 empty seats on the way out and about half a dozen on the way back!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I trust you had a great holiday E m and welcome back. Your Vueling experience sounds great. Thank you for sharing it here.