Birmingham Airport - General Thread

[Jon Dempsey]

Flybe go direct BHX-Berlin Tegal and soon Luxembourg

Doncaster and Leeds from BHX ???/ Seriously who do you expect to start these flights as we don't have any flights to Manchester and why would we, it only takes just over 1 hour 30 mins up the M6.

Not the way I drive!!

I would also single out Bilbao or Santander as a nice route to reach northern Spain from BHX.

I do think Paris Orly needs to be more accessible from the UK regions. It's a great airport to get to Paris through, and a growing list of connections. Currently, only Edinburgh and Southampton have a link outside London.

I also think Corsica could do with more links from the UK regions. I believe only Manchester has a link outside London, and that is only a weekly link to Bastia. It's a beautiful island and more links to either Bastia or Ajjacio would do wonders.

Montenegro is on the up and up. Currently mainly reached via Dubrovnik, but, Tivat and Podgoricia gaining more links currently.

Lastly, I would like more UK regional links to the former yugaslavia states. Pristine, Belgrade, Skjope and Sjareavo should start getting more popular as things remain settled. Beautiful part of the world.

Orly has fantastic connections to the French Caribbean such as Guadaloupe and Martinique.

The connection across Paris is what prevented me booking a holiday in the former, not so much the outward but the inward at sleep o'clock.

 

[Jon Dempsey]

Flybe go direct BHX-Berlin Tegal and soon Luxembourg

Doncaster and Leeds from BHX ???/ Seriously who do you expect to start these flights as we don't have any flights to Manchester and why would we, it only takes just over 1 hour 30 mins up the M6.

Not the way I drive!!

I would also single out Bilbao or Santander as a nice route to reach northern Spain from BHX.

I do think Paris Orly needs to be more accessible from the UK regions. It's a great airport to get to Paris through, and a growing list of connections. Currently, only Edinburgh and Southampton have a link outside London.

I also think Corsica could do with more links from the UK regions. I believe only Manchester has a link outside London, and that is only a weekly link to Bastia. It's a beautiful island and more links to either Bastia or Ajjacio would do wonders.

Montenegro is on the up and up. Currently mainly reached via Dubrovnik, but, Tivat and Podgoricia gaining more links currently.

Lastly, I would like more UK regional links to the former yugaslavia states. Pristine, Belgrade, Skjope and Sjareavo should start getting more popular as things remain settled. Beautiful part of the world.

Orly has fantastic connections to the French Caribbean such as Guadaloupe and Martinique.

The connection across Paris is what prevented me booking a holiday in the former, not so much the outward but the inward at sleep o'clock.

 

[rutamkrd]

No Sir, I am simply trying to suggest that BHX has no access to the best airport that serves Berlin and that is still not operational to this day.

The new terminal is just an extension to the Schoenfeld site and the old East German airfield has pretty good rail and motorway connections into the city.

It may be frequented by Ryan and Easy but there are full service carriers present and of course Aeroflot maintains their historical ties

 

[nwoody2001]

Do I? How did you manage to interpret my words to reach that conclusion sir?

It is similar to suggesting that Templhof to Elmdon is a good prospect in 2016!!!

No Sir, I am simply trying to suggest that BHX has no access to the best airport that serves Berlin and that is still not operational to this day.

As for low cost operations, does it serve BHX well to have Ryanair be dominating at a city airport seeking global significance?

I would willingly see Ryanair go to Coventry and free up slots at BHX for the more serious operators to service the prize global routes and a road/rail fast shuttle service complete with immigration and baggage transfer between the possible domestic terminal that could be Coventry and the International terminal that would be BHX.

Remember the old LHR-LGW helicopter airlink? Could that not work with a couple of Chinook Helicopters serving the transfer of international and domestic passengers between Coventry and Birmingham airports?

I completely lost at your point or what are you suggesting....

BHX doesn't have access to BER because no airline has access to BER, its not open yet

Ryanair neither dominates Birmingham - Berlin nor does it dominate Birmingham Airport

Flybe provides the Birmingham - Berlin route and also Flybe is the largest airline at Birmingham Airport (Ryanair is 2nd place in passanger terms)

You want to move our 2nd biggest customer, and our 2nd largest source of revenue who providing nearly 30 routes to the airport to move to Coventry??? to free up slots which are freely available??? BHX is not constrained other than terminal space... I would prefer they extend their terminal rather than tell the 2nd biggest customer to piss off and take the 1.75m passanger it carries to another airport!!!

...a complete nonsense in my perspective!

 

[Kevin Farnell]

As for low cost operations, does it serve BHX well to have Ryanair be dominating at a city airport seeking global significance?
Remember the old LHR-LGW helicopter airlink? Could that not work with a couple of Chinook Helicopters serving the transfer of international and domestic passengers between Coventry and Birmingham airports?

Some logical thinking is required here.
Helicopters are by far and away the most expensive form of commercial aviation that there is. Do you expect the passengers buying Ryanair tickets to fork out for the cost, adding great expense to the low cost tickets they have preferentially bought?
At best, you could uncomfortably seat around 40 pax in a Chinook. Each Ryanair B737-800 is configured to seat 189 pax. Assuming a full aircraft, transferring the pax would require 5 Chinook flights between BHX and COV, per Ryanair flight. Multiply that with tomorrow's (22 June) 13 arrivals, this would require 65 Chinook departures from BHX (and the respective arrivals from COV). Those Chinook movements would have to be fitted into BHX slots, taking up far more than the original Ryanair flights would have done.
And, why just Ryanair? If you move one low cost airline to COV, shouldn't you move them all? That would see not only Ryanair, but Easyjet, Wizz, Iberia Express, Vueling and Norwegian (and others) relocated to COV. How many Chinook movements is that? COV couldn't cope with that level of movements (rotary or fixed wing). So someone would have to pay to develop COV!
Ultimately, simply by cost and convenience people would not come to BHX to fly by helicopter to COV. They'd simply drive there.
The loss of income to BHX from parking and spending in terminals would be considerable.

Heathrow is the only major UK airport with serious slot constraints and therefore no low cost carriers.
Gatwick and Manchester both have extensive low cost operations along side full fare international carriers. Why should BHX be any different, when it has ample free slots?

You want to move our 2nd biggest customer, and our 2nd largest source of revenue who providing nearly 30 routes to the airport to move to Coventry??? to free up slots which are freely available??? BHX is not constrained other than terminal space.
...a complete nonsense in my perspective!

I totally agree.

Kevin

 

[Ray Finkle]

this would require 65 Chinook departures from BHX

That sure would be an awesome sight though

 

[Kevin Farnell]

That sure would be an awesome sight though

The noise would be quite something too!
A year or two back, watching a Chinook display at Duxford, there was the inevitable loud repeated 'rotor slap' (done as only a Chinook can) as it performed a manoeuvre. The commentator immediately responded with 'I want that as a ringtone!'

Regards

Kevin

 

[JENNYJET]

Thank you all for responses to my thoughts since has achieved the intended discussion.

It shows that BHX could soon reach saturation owing to facility overload at peak but not at quiet times and moving Ryanair to Coventry was merely an idea to lighten the load allowing another global operator to fill the revenue gap with bigger aircraft and perhaps the car parks if they needed any further filling!

As for Chinook helicopters, I see them daily over my neighborhood as they train and transport troops to Brecon for more tortuous excercises for the Army.

I don't really need to see them, the unique sound tells me they are nearby!

 

[richard winterbourn]

I hope we can 'put to bed' the notion that Chinooks might ferry RYR pax from CV into BHX, the airport management would be crazy to ever contemplate such a plan.

However, this same management does have to give thought to the consequences of its recent success - namely the rapid expansion of Norwegian, Vueling, Wizzair et al and, clearly, within a a timeframe of about 12 months, it will need to have plans on the table to provide more terminal space.

Clearly T2 is not going to provide the answer in its present form. A re-build here or, as the Towards 2030 master plan indicated a new satellite pier on the existing 70s and 80s stand or a new T3 expanding south from T2 into the long stay car park.

I hope we don't have to wait long to find out what development plans BHX have in mind.

I'm never one to overlook a good cliche and we have one here - we could be trying to get a quart into a pint pot!

 

[Ray Finkle]

There are lots of rumours about what is to come for 2017, even if a percentage of them come to fruition Birmingham is going to be pushed even further than it will be this summer. How it will cope is anybody's guess.

There has been talk of a loco terminal on the Elmdon site, also a new pier adjacent to the railway line and a pier extending from T2. It would nice to hear some official conformation though

In defence of the management the likes of Norwegian, Vueling and Wizz are still in their infancy, with them only being here around 12-18 months. They could well be waiting for some kind of commitment before starting building work. Some shiny new facilities would look great and would certainly be welcomed but it could only take a change of heart to leave a very expensive and very empty new building.

I hope that we hear something soon though.

 

[Seasider]

It needs a couple of airlines to "sign up" for 10 years for the airport to warrant spending money on a new Terminal.

 

[richard winterbourn]

In my opinion, dreadful news! But apart from my personal views i believe exiting the EU could have disastrous consequences for me, you and many millions of people in this country. And i don't think BHX, other airports and airlines will have an easy ride.

If they did have plans, would Jet2 now consider opening another base when their 'bucket and spade' customers are going to see a vast cut in the foreign exchange rate; and what about United and American will they be able to fill their seats to New York with the £ against the $ at the low level it is. And let's not forget all the other airlines that look to attract us Brits to the continent and further afield.

There could be tough times ahead....

 

[Paulsstrange]

Scare mongering arrrhh.

Give it time the pound and the markets will settle down again this was always going to happen initially.

Long term a momentous moment for the UK in my personal opinion.

Confident this will have no real affect on BHX either way and in the shorter term it may be cheaper for Europeans to fly here and spend here !

 

[Ray Finkle]

The airport have issued a statement:

“Today’s outcome isn’t just about Britain leaving the EU but is now also about reforming our new Government following the Prime Minister’s announcement to step down.

“The EU referendum result doesn’t mean that we will immediately see a change to our lifestyles, the way that we travel or how our European nationals living and working in Britain will be affected.

“Nor will it mean that we will disconnect with our European partners overnight. It is far too early to speculate about any of these important issues – this is an unprecedented situation after all. But it’s important to keep clear and calm heads so that we can ensure that our regional priorities, such as HS2, keep moving forward to ensure the future of Midlands’ residents, workers and industry, is not compromised.”

https://www.birminghamairport.co.uk...m-airport-following-the-eu-referendum-result/

There will undoubtedly be a period of uncertainty and although the country has been split the decision has been made, what we need now is people from both sides working together to make the transition as smooth as possible. As Mr Kehoe Tweeted "Now is the time for real leadership to bring the country together difficult tho this may be. Let's not talk ourselves into a recession".

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I agree, Ray. As we've been saying all along no-one can know how this will pan out or, if Remain had won, how that would have panned out either.

There seems to be a view in some quarters that an announcement was going to be made early in July that LHR would get a third runway. In view of today's news that may be put on hold. If a certain Mr Johnson becomes PM it might not happen at all with the so-called Boris Island back in the frame. There are so many drawbacks with that one that it is likely to be decades before it came to fruition if it ever did. In the meantime no expansion at LHR would obviously be very good news for the likes of BHX and MAN.

It's been very quiet on F4A today - perhaps people are trying to take in the unexpected news. I thought Remain would win comfortably (maybe even 55%:45%) as did the City, the Press and it seems the government.

 

[Ray Finkle]

It's been very quiet on F4A today - perhaps people are trying to take in the unexpected news. I thought Remain would win comfortably (maybe even 55%:45%) as did the City, the Press and it seems the government.

Very quiet.

I've been watching the events unfold on the news, as I'm sure many others have. I think we all knew it would be close but I really thought that we'd vote remain (as did Ryanair who sent me a celebratory email at 01:55 offering £9.99 seats).

Have successive governments become complacent over the years, choosing to ignore the views of the 'people' on a range of issues, eventually leading us to this point? The EU had/has it's problems but I wonder if many of those who voted to leave did so as a 'protest' vote, possibly without really understanding the full magnitude of what is to come?


As for the new PM, Mrs Finkle has already got the Australian visa application to hand should Gove get the gig!

 

[Butty]

Airline stocks down massively. If we leave the EU expect a slump in traffic...nationally. if we leave...

 

[JENNYJET]

Airline stocks down massively. If we leave the EU expect a slump in traffic...nationally. if we leave...

I have this feeling in my marrowbone that UK will not actually leave EU.

The referendum was advisory and not binding since only Parliament has the power to trigger any clauses within Sovereign Treaties and not the 'populous' at large because UK is a constitutional Monarchy and thus a Parliamentary Democracy. As such, it is MP's that subsequently decide because we elected them to do those things for us. This is why PM Cameron has chosen to slow down the frenzy in order for the Nation, EU, Scotland and any one else such and Gibraltar and other dependencies to consider further the decisions of the plebiscite.

It is possible that EU would panic to such extent to preserve the Union that a rather generous and juicy offer is made to UK to stay as a member I.e. immigration controls and VAT rules and farming restrictions and suchlike concessions to sweeten the minds of those that chose to leave the EU.

However, it is likely to be a matter of political honour to follow a popular vote rather than follow the best interests of the United Kingdom.

I am ' speaking ' here as a legal mind and not from my own independent mind. My Law Library is substantial enough to convince me that the issues following the referendum will take me to my retirement or my grave and I would not bet upon which outcome comes first!!

If anyone has any doubts or an interest in the legal complexcities, please Google 'Lisbon Treaties' and read them IN FULL not just the oft quoted Article 50.

Until the final signature is placed upon the 'Treaties' of separation, nothing shall legally change that can affect current existing arrangements other than commercial decisions made by entities in hedging for uncertainty.e.g., Ryanair moving back to Dublin but maintaining UK services, Easyjet expanding from Switzerland and closing Luton base etc.,

If one has a EU style British Passport, it remains valid until expiry date. New Passports may differ only in that it does not have any reference to European Citizenship. Another matter to settle minds is Schengen. Once you pass through UK and enter into a Schengen Country, the usual freedoms remain in force. This is the same for US Passport holders that land in Frankfurt from New York, Europe remains border free but if the American lands first at Birmingham, his Passport would be his most important document until he arrives at the German Border.

I am not too worried about Brexit, I would not allow little people like Journalists to panic you into decisions that are not imminent, they are inept, they claim to know much but understand little and prey upon the uninformed in order to generate fear among the uneducated masses.

As for the Stock Markets falling, to be brutal, The Stock Markets globally are collectively the Biggest Betting Shops on the planet.

Please do not be concerned, the Pounds in your possession with remain Pounds, they will have the same purchasing power on a day to day basis it is only those Millionaires that worry about such matters.

Butty, I hope I have been able to settle your mind, if Airlines are making revenue today they will stay until it becomes troublesome to them. I imagine fuel costs figure above the Sovereignty of the destinations they serve.

For everyone else, unless you have been appointed to 'The Privy Council' and hold the Title of 'The Right Honourable Sir Raymond Finkle' as a playful example,
please ignore the Media hyperbole because it is likely to be 100% trash.

Folks, please carry on as you did last Wednesday, nothing will change because nothing needs to change for some considerable time.

Have a good we everyone!!

 

[BHXsupporter]

Jenny,

Is it possible (para 4) to relate the two words 'political' and 'honour'?

 

[JENNYJET]

Jenny,

Is it possible (para 4) to relate the two words 'political' and 'honour'?

BHX supporter, I cannot refer to you as either Sir , Madam or Rabbit but I thank you for offering a wonderfully challenging question.

Honour can be illustrated by the old military practice often contaminated into social circles by settling disputes amongst alleged Gentlemen by way of the fighting a Duel.

In political circles, Honour is a given to any member of either Houses of Parliament, this the Political definition of Honour.

As mentioned, Only those appointed by HM can be the Right Honourable by virtue of appointment to the Privy Council. This is above and beyond any political office or by virtue of elected seat at Parliament. This is normally given to any Minister or Secretary of State to the Crown. It is by way of recommendation to the Crown and confered only by H M.


One does not need to be a political animal to be a Privy Councillor.

It is therefore possible to relate both concepts in 21st Century but in 19th Century it would result in a blood bath of suspect legal homicide because one wore the wrong trousers at dinner and offended the integrity of the occasion!