Links Air

[TheLocalYokel]

http://walesairforum.wordpress.com/2014 ... r-service/

Links Air has won the new PSO contract from the Wales Assembly Government to operate Cardiff-Anglesey for the next four years. Previously CityWing had the contract but used Links Air as its operator.

The aircraft will continue to be the 19-seat Jetstream 31.

Links Air says it intends to operate more routes out of CWL following today's news. With the multi-million pound PSO contract in its pocket some of the yield pressure on other routes might be reduced, although they will have to be careful that other routes are not effectively being subsidised by the PSO money.

 

[Aviador]

Are many people using the service?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Are many people using the service?

No, single figures on average. It's highly contentious in Wales with many believing it's little more than a private taxi service for assembly members and senior civil servants at a huge cost (millions!) to the tax payer.

If Links Air does operate more CWL routes on the back of getting the PSO contract some of the criticism about the vast sums of money expended on this PSO route might lessen.

 

[superking]

they will have some disruption operating into valley in january as runway due to be closed for 2 weeks for maintanence. so it looks like flts will be operated into hawarden, which will be extra cost.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

they will have some disruption operating into valley in january as runway due to be closed for 2 weeks for maintanence. so it looks like flts will be operated into hawarden, which will be extra cost.

Hawarden has been used in the past when on the odd occasion Valley has not been accessible for some reason or other.

I suspect that the rationale for giving the PSO contract to Links Air is to encourage the airline to commence commercial routes from CWL.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Links Air has won the new PSO contract from the Wales Assembly Government to operate Cardiff-Anglesey for the next four years. Previously CityWing had the contract but used Links Air as its operator.

The aircraft will continue to be the 19-seat Jetstream 31.

Links Air says it intends to operate more routes out of CWL following today's news. With the multi-million pound PSO contract in its pocket some of the yield pressure on other routes might be reduced, although they will have to be careful that other routes are not effectively being subsidised by the PSO money.

Links Air say today that on 27 January they will announce two new routes centred on Cardiff and Anglesey 'adding further opportunities to both North & South Wales'.

 

[Aviador]

Will that mean yet more subsidies from the Welsh government?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Will that mean yet more subsidies from the Welsh government?

Apparently not, although if the new route is an extension of the current PSO route I suppose it would be an indirect subsidy, eg if the route operates Cardiff-Valley-and (say) Manchester and back it could be argued that it would not be feasible without the subsidised Cardiff-Valley bit.

The press release is a bit vague and it's not clear if the new route or routes will be a direct extension of the current PSO route or a stand-alone route or routes. It also seems a bit a*rse backwards to say they will announce a new route(s) next week, give some broad hints (England has been mentioned as a destination) but not actually say what it/they will be.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Links Air say today that on 27 January they will announce two new routes centred on Cardiff and Anglesey 'adding further opportunities to both North & South Wales'.

No official announcement yet but the Links Air booking engine shows Cardiff-Norwich daily, Monday to Friday, from 20 April 2015. It will be possible to fly from Anglesey to Norwich via Cardiff too, so this could fulfil the statement about two new routes centred on Cardiff and Anglesey; ie, Anglesey to Norwich and Cardiff to Norwich.

On the face of things this seems an odd choice. CWL-NWI has been tried in the past and failed with Air Wales ATR 42 aircraft. Admittedly, Links have 19-seaters but it still appears to be a long shot.

In the past Air Southwest with Dash 8-300s tried BRS-NWI and Flybe first with 78-seat Q400s and then with 31-seat Dornier 328s via their franchise partner Logan Air tried EXT-NWI. Neither route lasted long.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

CWL (and Anglesey [VLY]) to Norwich

Now announced officially.

The interesting point is that CWL-VLY-CWL is a PSO route and yet passengers travelling between VLY and NWI on a commercial flight will use the PSO sector between CWL and VLY.

It would be easy for someone to make a case that the PSO route is supporting the NWI extension. I doubt that anyone would bother as it will affect other airports only infinitesimally.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Cardiff (and Anglesey) to Norwich

There is a cryptic post on another forum suggesting that this service (that only started on 20 April this year) is to end.

I can find nothing on the Links Air website (which continues to carry large advertisements for the route) nor on the CWL or NWI websites.

However, a check with the Links Air booking engine shows that all flights are shown as 'sold out' from next Monday through the summer.

Clearly, this won't be the case so it seems the route may be ending. Can anyone confirm or deny?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Further to my previous post it's now confirmed that the CWL-NWI route is closing.

Despite this Links Air continues to publicise the route with adverts for it on the airline's website home page.

http://www.edp24.co.uk/business/airline ... _1_4107450

It seems the link is broken. Here is the beginning of the article in today's Eastern Daily Press.

[textarea]A new air link between Norwich to Cardiff is to be grounded by airline chiefs barely two months after take-off.

Operator Links Air said it was ending flights between the two cities at the end of this month. But one passenger, due to fly tomorrow, said his flight had already been cancelled.

Bosses at Norwich International Airport said they were disappointed at the closure of the route, which only began operating on April 20.

Roger Hage, commercial manager at Links Air, said because the airline was publicly subsidised for its Anglesey-Cardiff route, under law it had to ensure all other routes were profitable.

“We were treading the fine wire to make this work and it was worth a try,” said Mr Hage. “But we had to break even in the next four weeks and we havent.”[/textarea]

 

[Aviador]

Well at least we have some clarification now so far as route funding goes, in that a new route needs to break even as opposed to having a loss leader type scenario.

It is a blow for Cardiff airport but to be honest, could anybody really see this route ever working?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It is a blow for Cardiff airport but to be honest, could anybody really see this route ever working?

Not as a commercial entity.

Air Wales tried it ten years ago with a triangular route involving Dublin.

Air Southwest tried Bristol-Norwich and Flybe tried Exeter-Norwich, both within the last decade. Despite Norwich being an onerous and tedious journey by surface transport from South Wales/South West England there doesn't seem the demand for air.

 

[jfy1999]

Has Anglesey survived or has it gone the way of NWI? I share the surprise at the lack of demand for an air link from Wales to East Anglia. Maybe Flybe should look at it as their NWI routes from Manchester and Scotland in conjunction with Loganair are doing nicely.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Cardiff-Anglesey is a PSO (Public Service Obligation) route and is ring fenced. This PSO route has been controversial since its inception several years ago as it's seen by many as almost a private taxi service for Assembly members and Welsh civil servants. It's cost the tax payer several million pounds since it began and this sort of expenditure from public funds continues.

I can't see any airline being a commercial success on CWL-NWI (or on BRS-NWI for that matter even with BRS's larger and wealthier catchment). As I pointed out these routes have been tried in the past and failed.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

A post on another forum states that the Cardiff-Anglesey PSO service is currently being operated by a Danish Metroliner, with rumours on that forum that Links Air has been grounded by the CAA.

There is nothing on the Links Air website and I can find no confirmation. Has anyone any knowledge?

 

[jfy1999]

I saw the Links Air Jetstream 31 G-JIBO flying up from Cardiff very recently so if the grounding was imposed it must have been within the last week.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Links Air flights suspended

Further to the two previous posts the BBC reports that Links Air has had its safety licence revoked. The CAA said the action was taken to "protect the travelling public".

It's reported that Danish company North Flying is now operating the route but whether as a temporary measure is not made clear. If Links Air doesn't return to operations it seems to me that the Wales Assembly Government will have to seek new competitive tenders for this PSO route which costs the tax payer millions of pounds over the lifetime of the contract.

The WAG hasn't had much luck with the route as a previous carrier, Highland Airways, ceased trading in 2010 in the middle of the then contract.

Link to BBC report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-34591868