What services you are using?

[752]

Just booked on to BA LHR - LBA on Saturday the 28th.

Returning LBA-LHR on the 1st December

 

[Gray Ham]

LBA to JFK tomorrow with KLM. 60 min connection in AMSTERDAM so hoping for no weather delay.

 

[yorkshire]

Just booked leeds to Tenerife for March 2017 with Monarch,two of us with one suitcase £260.00 which isn't bad ..thanks Aviador.

 

[GolfFox]

My Paris meeting was cancelled because of the terrorist attack. However - Berlin trip went according to plan. Out on the 23rd Nov on the afternoon flight. Load fairly modest - between 40-50. Arrived at the terminal door 13.30 and with no significant queue in security was in the lounge 10 minutes later. Arrival into Heathrow was good with no delays and again no queues at T5 to transfer into departures. Departure to Berlin was from B gate so treck around the universe and train to gate but no problems. Usual frustrating wait taxi and eventual take off 25 minutes later.
We were early on the way back from Berlin on the 26th but because of that sat waiting for 25 minutes at T5 for a gate! Eventually got connected to the air bridge but we were at the 'wrong part' of the terminal apparently so had to exit via the bridge and then down stairs back out to the tarmac to get on a bus to take us to the 'right' part of the terminal. Transfer time being eaten into here (again!). However, after a very lengthy walk passport control and another security check had no queues so still made it half an hour before departure. Then got a message on my phone to go to A4 immediately. The LBA aircraft was parked remotely and therefore it was a bus (or two as it turned out) to the aircraft. Load a bit better than the southbound leg on Monday - 60+. Boarded at 12.35, taxied at 13.00 but taxi delays tortuous. Finally got off the ground 13.30. Delayed by a 'routine runway inspection' at LBA which I suspect may have been associated with the Jet2 towing incident I read about on another thread. Landed 'hot' approx 15 minutes late. 7 minutes from the wheels on the runway to exiting the terminal. Top marks for LBA and BA - Heathrow? Well it worked but still the inherent delays and frustrations!

 

[countdacash]

Just booked on service to Cork. Out 4/6/16 back 7/6/16. Very reasonable price -£90 including seat reservations

 

[GolfFox]

Booked on Monarch to Naples in early May. Reasonable price for the 2 of us at a fraction over £300 total return. Bookable seats and on-line check-in offered additionally at £7 per seat each way but reading further on the web page, on line check-in is apparently not available from Naples so a bit confusing and therefore didn't bother.

 

[lbaspotter]

Just booked Lanzarote All inclusive holiday for a week flying Ryanair from Leeds/Bradford. Yeah I know it's taking a risk with our weather record but Ryanair aircraft seem to have a good chance of getting in on Runway 32 using the CATIII Auto-land in Fog compared to other operators. Fly outbound on Saturday January 23rd at 12:00 and return a week later at 21:20 on Saturday, January 30th

 

[Aviador]

As much as I have raised the problem in the past, the risk of a diversion is still very small to be fair and smaller still with Ryanair as we know they're pretty good at getting back into LBA when the vis isn't great.

Source: Twitter/Flightradar24

This was posted on Twitter earlier today. Sums up winter sun for the Brits really.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

Just thought I would throw in a little post, not about the services that I am using but, more tellingly, services that I am not using.

I am taking a trip to London (one that I perform regularly) in February and, due to proximity of Heathrow to my destination, I always consider the flight as a possibility. In recent times, I have often preferred to fly as the cost was somewhat comparable tot he train and car and the flight times very good.

On my last trip to London, I was unable to take a flight as the late Northbound was not operating. That would have been my preferred choice but I was forced to take the car. On this occasion, I checked the flights as always but have ended up booking the train. Virgin East Coast have an offer that ends tomorrow for £5 tickets between Leeds and London. I have noticed more of these flash sales being offered by Virgin and BA simply cannot compete with that sort of deal. I will keep an eye on how things go over the next few months but it would seem that the domestic flight is becoming a less attractive prospect.

Along the same subject lines, I have booked flights in February and March to Copenhagen and Milan respectively. I was due to fly to Copenhagen around the same time last year using the SAS flights from LBA. Unfortunately, I shelved the trip due to the closure of the route. I now find myself flying from Luton for £15 return. Furthermore, I find myself flying to Milan from Stansted for £30 return. Of course, there are no longer any flights to Milan from LBA.

What concerns me is the loss of so many routes over the last few years and the competition of so many airlines on just a few. The potential opening, therefore, of LBA-BFS with Ryanair doesn't thrill me - I can already fly from LBA to Belfast. What I would like to see is routes being opened to somewhere new, that attracts new passengers to the airport and that stops long serving ones, like myself, from having to go elsewhere. I understand Monarch's Naples route has sold well, illustrating my point and it is great to see Guernsey and Cork back on the billing. But if Ryanair threw in an LBA-CPN route for £15 return, half of Yorkshire would be in Denmark this time next week.

I would love to come on here and tell everyone about all the flights that I am booking from LBA. The sad truth is, there is very little for me.

 

[752]

Just a little update on what me and my family have been booking!

Yesterday 07/02/16 - Brother and Girlfriend flew out to Krakow with Ryanair

26/05/16 - 31/06/15 - Family x4 members are flying Monarch to Alicante return

26/05/16 - 05/06/16 - Family x2 members are flying Monarch to Alicante return

I'm glad they are flying LBA with Monarch, they seem to be happy with the 3pm flight!

especially with increasing competition over the hill and lowering prices!

 

[GolfFox]

I came back from Paris yesterday with Jet 2 on LS316. Excellent flight/crew and right on time. The aircraft was not completely full but had a very good load (looked around 90-100) There were probably 30 pax in front of me at immigration but was through in less than 5 minutes. The immigration area although efficient in respect of myself yesterday , does not give a good impression. New Terminal NOW!!!

 

[jason1-11]

Couple of colleagues flying up on the BA1342 tomorrow.

Plenty of free seats available at the time of online check in today so looks like a light load or hopefully a mad rush nearer departure.

 

[GolfFox]

Went out to Paris on LS315 on Monday afternoon. Three scanners open in security made short work of the queue and I was through in less than 5 minutes. Lima Alpha was almost full with only a handful of empty seats. According to the crew the inbound flight was completely full. Departed on time and landed early. All in all a positive experience.

 

[transitman]

if only we could have paris double daily

 

[GolfFox]

It certainly would be better for business users. I came back on Eurostar/East Coast as Jet 2 don't fly the route Wednesdays and the BA 'late' flight is nowhere near late enough to capture the tea time arrivals at LHR.
I suspect that a 737 might be a little too big for a 'double' daily - at least on start up.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

I have just booked a flight from Cork to LBA in August as I will be returning from a Hockey tournament. Unfortunately, due to the lack of days available on the rotation, I have had to book the outbound flight from Newcastle. Had I not decided to stay an extra day, I would have had to return via Newcastle, Manchester or Liverpool - or take a 3 hour train ride to Dublin. It's great to have these services available but the lack of choice has once again thwarted my attempt to support the airport as much as possible.

 

[Seasider]

I have just booked a flight from Cork to LBA in August as I will be returning from a Hockey tournament. Unfortunately, due to the lack of days available on the rotation, I have had to book the outbound flight from Newcastle. Had I not decided to stay an extra day, I would have had to return via Newcastle, Manchester or Liverpool - or take a 3 hour train ride to Dublin. It's great to have these services available but the lack of choice has once again thwarted my attempt to support the airport as much as possible.

I would have thought that 3 times per week would be quite satisfactory for most leisure travellers who can fit their short break around the flights. You obviously had to travel out and back on certain days so not as convenient. If it was daily then it would have suited you but I doubt that they would have been able to fill enough seats.
At least you have been able to use LBA in one direction.

 

[JakeS]

if only we could have paris double daily

 

[yorkguy]

I constantly bemoan the lack of direct flights to Scandinavia. Last year I used Avios points to fly to Stockholm with BA from LBA via LHR. But this year it was a no brainer to book with SAS from MAN for a direct flight to Oslo in August. £102 return. No other route came close for price or convenient flight times

 

[whoshotjimmi]

I would have thought that 3 times per week would be quite satisfactory for most leisure travellers who can fit their short break around the flights. You obviously had to travel out and back on certain days so not as convenient. If it was daily then it would have suited you but I doubt that they would have been able to fill enough seats.
At least you have been able to use LBA in one direction.

I would agree with you if the three flights per week were not on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Flights for the purposes of leisure dictate that Monday and Friday are most useful as this tends to fit in better with the working patterns of the majority of people. Quite aside from anything else, Friday and Monday were the days I ideally required as, I'm sure, it would be similar for others.

Furthermore, I would like to point out that most of the recent comments on this thread have bemoaned the lack of options from LBA. Not just routes themselves, but the poor choice of flight times available. I fly quite a lot and consistently find myself having to look at options other than LBA for precisely those reasons - and I am reasonably flexible. If I have to flexible to fly from LBA, then it is no wonder MAN has such a large percentage of Yorkshire passengers, where the choices are endless and people can pick and choose exactly what they need. On this occasion, I was unable to be flexible for the outward flight and am having to fly from Newcastle. I just wonder how often people have that same problem.