Archive Route Development & Rumours

[robsh34]

Stand 61 is A380 capable.
What are the timings of these possible flights?

I would imagine annually on the 30th February.

 

[BlueManc]

Unfortunately a couple of blows to report.
AC now just 3x A330 per week (credit https://bsky.app/profile/spdtravels.bsky.social/post/3lmtqfnh76c2z)
Oman launching AMS 4x per week (credit Sean M) - one of the airlines never to return after covid

 

[mullion]

To be honest I`m not suprised re Air Canada as the Canadian market is a bit of a mess this summer

 

[Comet]

Any news on Indigo. Would have expected flights to have gone on sale by now

 

[Severn]

Pegasus today announced an increase in flights from its base in SAW to BHX and EDI. Last week it also announced a new route to BRS starting this summer, so I thought I'd look at what flights are available to Istanbul (IST & SAW) during a week in August 2025.

 

[Jerry]

NEW ROUTE

IndiGo - Mumbai to Manchester. Flights start 1 July 2025

6E031 BOM 0415-0915 MAN (Tue, Thu & Sat)

6E032 MAN 1200-0135+1 BOM (Tue, Thu & Sat)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1925115841915298135

 

[robsh34]

NEW ROUTE

IndiGo - Mumbai to Manchester. Flights start 1 July 2025

6E031 BOM 0415-0915 MAN (Tue, Thu & Sat)

6E032 MAN 1200-0135+1 BOM (Tue, Thu & Sat)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1925115841915298135

I thought the previously announced Indigo flights were going to Delhi. Are the Bombay flights a replacement to the Delhi flights or in addition to them.

 

[Scottie Dog]

I thought the previously announced Indigo flights were going to Delhi. Are the Bombay flights a replacement to the Delhi flights or in addition to them.

Delhi will follow in September

 

[Scottie Dog]

I've just been looking at my old records and it would appear that the last time that Mumbai was served was Winter 2018/2019.

I have the following statistics from the CAA:

November 2018 - 6,003
December 2018 - 9,296
January 2019 - 9,837
February 2019 - 8,643
March 2019 - 5,983

 

[Scottie Dog]

The Winter 25 ACL report is now out and the following 'New' routes are showing:

Destination Movements
Southampton 667
Mumbai 308
Delhi 308
Milan Linate 300
Gerona 286
Exeter 211
Islamabad 132
Tashkent 132
Amritsar 88
Bordeaux 88
Dubai World Centre 88
Rabat 88
Kirkwall 66
Dortmund 44
Salen 44
Tallin 23
Kajaani 20
Antigua 18
Strasbourg 17
Skopje 12
Bodrum 10
Rhodes 10
Total 2,960

W25 Initial Seats - 16,167,249
W24 Initial Seats - 14,863,696
= =======
Difference - 1,303,553


Percentage change - 8.8%

W25 'New Carriers'

Airline Movements
Airblue 132
IndiGo 616
My Freighter 132
SpiceJet 88

Seat Increase - comparison between initial request W25 and start-of-season W24. I have only shown airlines with an increase of over 500 seats, there are numerous others with smaller increments.

Airline Movement change
easyJet 2,195
Emerald 616
Etihad 526
Jet2.com 1,234
Loganair 832
Ryanair 4,040
Ryanair UK 695

 

[HX3]

I’ve not read anything on spicejet, is that a proposed scheduled passenger service to Amritsar?

 

[Scottie Dog]

I can only relay the information on the report. It does not specify where Spicejet are looking at flying to.

 

[IanFarquharson]

SpiceJet have been on BHX ACL report for years and nothing has happened, so dont hold your breath on this one.

 

[Land23R]

SpiceJet have been on BHX ACL report for years and nothing has happened, so dont hold your breath on this one.

Have to agree about Spicejet Ian. Indigo have 616 slots which equate to 2 daily flights. I'd be delighted with just 1.

 

[Iron Duck]

Some growth from IndiGo that, fair play, from nothing to 14 weekly in a couple of months.

 

[IanFarquharson]

Some growth from IndiGo that, fair play, from nothing to 14 weekly in a couple of months.

These are only slots remember !

 

[EGCC_MAN]

ACL Winter Report - Highlights.

Complementing SD's summary above.

I am encouraged by the strong increases filed by Ryanair Group, EasyJet Group and Jet2. Also a modest increase filed by TUI. Whilst there will undoubtedly be an element of trimming back prior to start of season, the omens are good that we will see decent flight programme enhancement from these carriers. If MAN is to see continued growth, these four carriers have to lead the way. We can't underestimate their importance to progress at this airport.

New carriers filed: Indigo ... looking good. My Freighter (Centrum Air) to Tashkent; fingers crossed for these. SpiceJet ... came as a surprise to me ... possibly the Amritsar proposal as suggested above? Airblue to Islamabad ... requires the UK to approve Pakistan's safety protocols; doesn't look promising, but if it does happen we can expect PIA back as well.

Carriers lost since last Winter: Arkia / SkyUp to Tel Aviv; understandable given the geopolitical situation. Notable reductions: Austrian Airlines - slots still filed but fewer than last year; could we see a frequency reduction rather than a Winter suspension? Singapore Airlines - slots previously used for Houston withdrawn. EasyJet Switzerland; big drop for this specific arm of EasyJet Group, but healthy increase from the company's other divisions more than offset this.

Destinations dropped: Houston (SIA), Arkia / SkyUp Tel Aviv. Also the EasyJet schedule to Paris Orly. This route appeared to do well for EZY in terms of uptake (can't comment on yield); I suspect that retrenching to CDG is driven by EasyJet Group optimising Paris region slot allocations rather than by the Orly route underperforming. Hopefully, MAN's routes team will be on the ball pitching this route to Transavia France and Vueling; the airport missed an opportunity with these two when MAN's routes team was left on furlough post-covid long after competing airports had brought their people back.

Seats / Movements allocated by Terminal:
T1 = 5,915,880 / 28,921
T2 = 8,121,471 / 41,997
T3 = 2,129,898 / 11,080

Those numbers puzzle me. Ryanair Group currently projects a programme of 4,232,951 seats, almost twice the number shown for T3. Meanwhile, the T1 number is higher than I would have expected to see. Pure guesswork here, but I suspect that T1/T3 may already be operating as a combined terminal by then and these numbers reflect distribution across the footprint of the two? I make the combined total throughput envisaged for T1/T3 to be 8,045,778, whilst the combined Ryanair Group and EasyJet Group seats amount to 7,396,822 seats. I'm not sure what we will see happen in reality, but that calculation reflects EasyJet Group remaining in T1 for Winter season (contrary to reports elsewhere).

New destination highlights: Delhi / Mumbai / Amritsar (IndiGo and Spicejet) - discussed above.
Southampton and Exeter - Those much-needed Loganair gap-fillers.
Tashkent - The proposed Centrum Air schedule.
Dubai World Central - Slots for Emirates Cargo??? Will they be taken up???
Islamabad - Airblue; a long shot, only happens if safety permits restored.
Milano Linate - EasyJet route continued from Summer.
Rabat / Gerona - Ryanair routes?
Antigua - One per fortnight; feeding a cruise ship?
Assorted Christmas Markets / City and Ski destinations at lower frequency.

Just afew first impressions there. Please do chip in with corrections / observations / suggestions.

 

[Iron Duck]

These are only slots remember !

I wouldn’t be surprised if they took them up. Indigo have 6 787s coming in the next few months to allocate

 

[David_itl]

Kirkwall is one route that stands out - not the type of destination you'd think of when it comes to winter flying. Got to be weekly Loganair service.

 

[Scottie Dog]

Kirkwall is one route that stands out - not the type of destination you'd think of when it comes to winter flying. Got to be weekly Loganair service.

It will be interesting to see how the domestic passenger figures look after a couple of months. They have been going down for so long that it will be nice to see a reversal in the trend.