Birmingham Airport - General Thread

[Ray Finkle]

Fantastic stuff from Flybe, BHX and everyone else involved

I've just seen the story on the local news and it was a joy to see those kids faces light up



CHRISTMAS SPIRIT SOARS ON FLYBE'S SANTA FLIGHT

FROM BIRMINGHAM AIRPORT

• Young people from Acorns Children’s Hospice enjoy a pre-Christmas treat with families
• 60-minute flight BE8888 from Birmingham met up with Santa

This is the time of year when magical memories are made and today (11th December 2019) was no exception. Flybe, together with its partners at Birmingham Airport, hosted a very special group of young people from Acorns Hospice on a festive flight during which a very special guest arrived on board.

Having first enjoyed taking pictures with the airport’s well-known mascots, Zoom and Skylar, 21 excited children and their families took off on the specially chartered flight BE8888.

The hour-long flight, which travelled as far as Wales, was joined by Santa along the way who handed out Flybe teddy bears and a goody bag courtesy of World Duty Free to each child and their carer.

Flybe Chief Operations Officer, Chris Hope, said: “It has been a real pleasure to give something back to the community at this special time of the year. We hope our Santa flight was a memorable experience for this deserving group of very brave young children. We were thrilled that Santa was able to take a moment out of his busy Christmas preparations to join us on board and meet the children! We would especially like to thank all our partners who contributed so generously in making this flight possible including World Duty Free and Costa Coffee as well, of course, as the amazing team at Birmingham Airport.”

Toby Porter, Acorns Chief Executive added: “What a truly magical day this has been for all the families, and what an extra special festive treat to meet Father Christmas himself! My sincere thanks to Flybe, Birmingham Airport and all the partners whose time and generosity came together wonderfully in the creation of this fabulous event.

“At Acorns we know how important it is for the families we support to make the most of every day, particularly when they are faced with a future that can seem very uncertain. I know there will be precious memories created today that will last for many Christmases to come.”

Tom Screen, Aviation Director at Birmingham Airport said: “It was a privilege on behalf of Birmingham Airport to take part in this incredible flight today. Acorns has been our nominated charity for ten years, and we are delighted that Flybe has given this amazing organisation the opportunity to take some of the children to meet Santa in the sky at this very special time of year.

“I know that all the children and carers had a great time, meeting our mascots - Zoom and Skylar – topped off by Santa arriving on board to meet the children. It really was a magical experience for all.”

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT SOARS ON FLYBE'S SANTA FLIGHT FROM BIRMINGHAM AIRPORT

Flybe, together with its partners at Birmingham Airport, hosted a very special group of young people from Acorns Hospice on a festive flight during which a very special guest arrived on board.

www.birminghamairport.co.uk

 

[Brummiegem]

Not sure if this is the best place for this,so if the mods want to move it to a different thread then feel free.

Re Sheldon Country Park.

I have been made aware of an incident this weekend at Sheldon Country Park.
An enthusiast/spotter enjoying a bit of photography at this location was was mugged by a thug wielding a machete and relieved of his camera.
I am not sure if Police have been informed as yet,or what the aftermath has been.I have been told that the incident is on social media.As I am not on social media at the moment I cannot comment on any of the reactions to it.
Obviously this sort of thing is very serious,wherever it happens,but in broad daylight at an area used by dog walkers,cyclists as well as plane enthusiasts is very worrying.
Please, anyone using this area, be on your guard and do not have any kit,phone or expensive items on display when not in use.
It is a very poor situation when you cannot enjoy a hobby or an afternoon out of the house and have to be on the lookout for people who just want something of yours.
Please take care everyone.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Although very shook up it's good to hear that those involved were not hurt, or worse.

Sheldon Country Park is extremely popular with families and is packed on a nice weekend. Mrs F often takes the kids for a bike or scooter ride around there but will not be doing so on her own anymore.

It's such a sad world that we live in today

 

[Ray Finkle]

Can we please have no further comments regarding the terrible incident at Sheldon Country Park over the weekend.

I am sure that we all pass on our sincere thoughts to the victim(s) but the incident has been reported to the police and it is in their hands now.

Any further comments on the matter will be deleted.

Thanks in advance for everyone's co-operation.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Over 2 weeks since Jet2 put Lisbon on sale and a week now since Aegean announced a return to Athens and what have we heard from BHX in the way of publicity? Absolutely nothing!

Three tweets about new buses and constant updates about the latest perfume offers but how dare we expect them to promote some new destinations.

I do sometimes wonder if they actually want these routes to succeed

 

[rollo]

I think your making the mistake that BHX is actually an airport there Raymond you silly billy.

 

[tompo]

It is exactly 12 Months to the day when I expressed my views on the performance of the Board and the appointment of the new CEO (page 292). Continuous monitoring of both this forum and the majority of available media opportunities confirms my statements. There is no evidence whatsoever of an improvement in the administration of this business and, unless this is rectified, it will not bode well competitively.

 

[Ray Finkle]

There is no evidence whatsoever of an improvement in the administration of this business and, unless this is rectified, it will not bode well competitively.

That may be a little bit harsh, after all we now have a partnership with a ballett, world class electric buses and a commitment to be the first carbon neutral airport by 2033. Who needs new routes and airlines when you have all of that?

 

[Kevin Farnell]

and a commitment to be the first carbon neutral airport by 2033.

Easily achievable, if BHX keeps losing routes and doesn't get any new ones!

Kevin

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there all, I totally agree with that comment, what is the point of agreeing new deals for electric buses when the airport keeps losing routes, with the amount that Birmingham airport is losing, it won't have enough passengers to bus around, so I think that the airport needs to wake up before its too late, its already behind Edinburgh, Luton, Stansted, Manchester, Gatwick and Heathrow, if it keeps losing anymore, then the eighth, nineth and tenth busiests airports behind Birmingham, will then overtake Birmingham Airport, leaving Birmingham Airport way behind. So Mr Nick Barton has nearly been in charge for nearly 12 months and still no big announcements yet. I can tell you that Mr Nick Barton will have been in charge of Birmingham Airport nearly two years by January 2021, and still no big announcements at all.. Andyc

 

[tompo]

Hi there all, I totally agree with that comment, what is the point of agreeing new deals for electric buses when the airport keeps losing routes, with the amount that Birmingham airport is losing, it won't have enough passengers to bus around, so I think that the airport needs to wake up before its too late, its already behind Edinburgh, Luton, Stansted, Manchester, Gatwick and Heathrow, if it keeps losing anymore, then the eighth, nineth and tenth busiests airports behind Birmingham, will then overtake Birmingham Airport, leaving Birmingham Airport way behind. So Mr Nick Barton has nearly been in charge for nearly 12 months and still no big announcements yet. I can tell you that Mr Nick Barton will have been in charge of Birmingham Airport nearly two years by January 2021, and still no big announcements at all.. Andyc

 

[jfy1999]

It is exactly 12 Months to the day when I expressed my views on the performance of the Board and the appointment of the new CEO (page 292). Continuous monitoring of both this forum and the majority of available media opportunities confirms my statements. There is no evidence whatsoever of an improvement in the administration of this business and, unless this is rectified, it will not bode well competitively.

What do you think needs improving, apart from route development? I make that exception because route development is something that happens behind the scenes, so it's hard for us to judge when we don't know how talks between the airport and airlines are going (example being Aegean unexpectedly announcing Athens).

One area where we do have a steady stream of information is customer satisfaction. Do you think BHX has been declining or standing still in this regard since last year? (I ask this as someone who doesn't experience the airport regularly.)

 

[tompo]

Very difficult to answer jfy1999. You would have to produce a manual “How to develop the best performing airport in the World” and follow that. However, the reality is that BHX is not a social charity as it self portrays but a sophisticated business aligned within the aviation industry.It follows that the CEO, as the organisational mouthpiece, must actively and dedicatedly promote everything positive about the business. There is, as yet, no yield of this. I have previously mentioned that the airport must look after its clients. In this regard, the most important are the airlines - it is so much easier to lose them than attract them in the first place and customer satisfaction starts with them. They are the ones to be constantly surveyed and nurtured and any potential opportunities identified and issues addressed. I have experienced these factors at several UK Airports a few decades passed but the current situation mirrors that period.
Some marketing tools are very easy to apply for example,liasing with an airline to congratulate the x number of passenger from a particular origin and issuing a press release.This has numerous benefits for all concerned.
I could go on but it would become tedious for the majority who just want To follow their local Airport success.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Some marketing tools are very easy to apply for example, liasing with an airline to congratulate the x number of passenger from a particular origin and issuing a press release.This has numerous benefits for all concerned.

I totally agree but when the airport cannot even issue a basic press release about new routes (see LIS and ATH for recent examples) then what chance do we stand of seeing one dissecting passenger numbers and route successes?

We used to get a press release outlining the successes of Lufthansa with a pat on the back about the pax numbers and a list of the most popular connections, I think the last one that I saw was around 2015.

I was of the opinion that Nick Barton deserved time to settle in but he's been in post for 12 months now and we've barely heard a peep. Granted Paul Kehoe was quite outspoken and Mr Barton may well have a different style of management but I'd like to see an in depth interview with the CEO outlining what he thinks works, what doesn't and what plans he has for the future (apart from all the eco warrior stuff).

I could go on but it would become tedious for the majority who just want To follow their local Airport success.

Please feel free to continue, we're happy to discuss the good and the bad on here

 

[Coathanger16]

Just a few points on this offering some counter arguments:

Firstly, lets not forget how tough the aviation industry is. In the past 2 years we've seen Monarch Airlines, Primera Air, FlyBMI and Thomas Cook all fail (and that's not even a list of all airlines that have failed in that time). All 4 airlines served BHX - Monarch and Thomas Cook both handling significant numbers of passengers as the airport. A large number of our 'lost routes' were served by these airlines. Getting them back is not easy. Approaching another airline based at BHX (Jet2, Ryanair, TUI) can be challenging as why didn't they serve the route before? Was it because the competition did or some other reason BHX has no control over. The alternative is to get an away based airline. Taking Lisbon as an example, BHX would have been competing against airports across Europe to convince TAP to launch flights here. The fact TAP hasn't doesn't mean BHX failed. Luckily for us Jet2 have now stepped in to fill the gap.

Secondly, route development takes years. 12 months is not long enough to judge how our new CEO has been impacting that area of the business. Bear that in mind when you think about Aegean returning. Paul Kehoe resigned in June 2017 (2.5 years ago). Discussions with Aegean would have taken place either whilst the airport had no CEO, or in the last 12 months. Whilst Aegean are a returning airline not a new one, it means the airport route development team either worked on getting this route with no CEO, or within a 12 month period. Both pretty good really IMO.

One final point on media presence. Besides us avgeeks, who much cares about a press release relating to new routes or airport expansion? Yes of course the airport AND airline need to advertise the route, but how does BHX compare to other airports with press releases?

 

[Ray Finkle]

A large number of our 'lost routes' were served by these airlines. Getting them back is not easy.

Whilst I don't disagree getting back some of the lost routes wasn't so difficult for other airports as they had alternative airlines either covering the route and able to increase or already in place to step in. BHX seems to go for the 'all eggs in one basket' approach and when that basket breaks it takes a hell of a long time to replace it.

We now have 9 routes that are exclusive to Jet2 and even then they didn't jump in on Mytilene and Kalamata which are now absent. God forbid anything should happen to them but if it did who would step in and serve the likes of Nice, Prague, Preveza, Lisbon, Rome and Venice? At the likes of MAN, LTN, BRS etc either easyjet or Ryanair would step in and most likely pretty quickly, at BHX however...?

 

[Coathanger16]

either easyjet or Ryanair would step in

Indeed.

The "why doesn't easyJet have a base at BHX" argument has been done to death on here, but the fact Ryanair doesn't have a larger base at BHX annoys me more.

At Bristol, an airport 30% smaller than Birmingham, Ryanair operates to over 30% more routes than they do at Birmingham.

At Edinburgh, an airport 15% larger than Birmingham, Ryanair operates to more than double the number of destinations than they do at Birmingham.

What's holding them back here?

The table below lists the destinations Ryanair serves from Birmingham. The other columns list the destinations Ryanair serves from those airports (LTN, EDI, GLA & BRS - next 2 busiest & next 2 quietest airports) but not from Birmingham (e.g. Ryanair serves 7 destinations from Glasgow, 5 of which they also serve from BHX. The 2 listed RYR don't operate to from BHX).

View attachment 15656

5 destinations are served from at least 3 of those other airports but not from BHX: Beziers, Bologna, Kaunas, Seville & Wroclaw. Only Wroclaw is served by another airline (Wizz).

How come BHX missed out on these destinations? The fact that 3 airports serve them suggests its not a niche route with small catchments at either end.

What will it take for Ryanair to make BHX a larger base?

 

[Nethercote2019]

I did hear a Couple ? of years ago RYR wanted to add another based aircraft but due to no apron space and overcrowded terminals it didn’t happen, it was all well before TCX & Flybe cutbacks & possibly Monarch demise ....

 

[Ianbutty]

Interesting. None of the routes from EDI are also served from BHX. Would be great if the two merged and we had the lot!

 

[Jerry]

What's holding them back here?

How large is their operation at East Midlands? 8? 9? Aircraft. Anyone know if they operate routes from East Midlands that they don't operate from BHX?