Vueling

[Jerry]

hmm not sure if its a glitch in the website but Vueling - BCN appears not to be bookable..

I think LBA and NCL have been cancelled.

 

[lbaspotter]

Saying that BCN-LBA flights are rebookable on Vueling website from September 2017.

It's a shame if we have lost Vueling, but least the Leeds - Barcelona route is well covered by both Jet2 and Monarch.

 

[Bigman]

Well, the old classic LBA Rule 2 proves correct again (Rule 1 - never believe anything until the tyres hit the tarmac). Rule 2 - the minute we pick something new up (ie Wroclaw), we always have to lose something else in return!!

 

[lbaspotter]

Can't believe the airport have already removed any trace of Vueling of its website. So they must have known in advance about them dropping the Leeds/Bradford - Barcelona service.

Win Win situation for Monarch and Jet2 though.

 

[a300boy]

Dreadful news !
It was not only Barcelona flights that we were all talking about earlier in the year we were hoping for a nice portfolio of destinations not served from Leeds at the moment.

 

[airforced]

Surely this loss is not to be mourned as both MON and LS already cover the route. It would have been better if Vueling had offered say MAD as a destination rather than going head to head with two established LBA carriers. Unless Vueling had stolen existing traffic by using aggressive pricing on this route (which they never did as far as I could see) it was always going to be iffy in the long term.

 

[Bigman]

It might have helped had they not chopped and changed the days and times of operation virtually every week!!

 

[rmac]

And the 'advantage' of Vueling was supposed onward connections but the timings virtually ruled that
out. It only strengthens Jet2 and Mon on the route. Still hoping for IB Express on MAD -LBA (with connections, etc)

 

[mdobuk21]

Disaster! Vueling was the only interesting movement/airline we had operating. The only hope we have now is for some nice bizjet movements!!

 

[752]

Reported else where about Vueling having crewing issues for summer, they seem to be chopping and changing a lot of routes at the minute, its a shame and hopefully we will see them back at LBA soon

 

[Aviador]

Disaster! Vueling was the only interesting movement/airline we had operating. The only hope we have now is for some nice bizjet movements!!

Make no mistake this is a disaster for LBA, summer crewing problems or whatever else the excuse people wish to use. One thing that is being overlooked or perhaps swept under the carpet by our resident airport supporters is Vueling was the very kind of airline operator the airport needed to keep if it is to utilise the quieter periods of the day. So that's another airline to add to the growing list of airlines LBA has cast into the shadows. With no prospect of Wizz coming, no sign of the rumoured Germanwings and a Flybe Base lost to neighbouring Doncaster airport, the options are wearing thinner and thinner for LBA.

#vuelingLBA

 

[mdobuk21]

Well written Aviador! Especially as Vueling are part of IAG.

 

[Jerry]

Also Vueling being a Spanish airline are a good source of Spanish tourism into the area as a lot of times of the flights is geared towards. Whenever i'm in Cardiff city centre in the summer i always here Spanish voices in the crowds and i do think the area gets a boost in that respect because we have a Spanish airline rather than a UK airline. I also think Vuelings success at the airport attracted Iberia Express as well.

 

[airforced]

Yes LBA doesn't want to lose any carriers but if Vueling had chosen a different route in the first place things may well have been different. I know that I would have used them if they had started say a Madrid or Seville route. If I had wanted to go to BCN the price/timings would have had to have been better than LS or MON.

 

[Jerry]

Yes LBA doesn't want to lose any carriers but if Vueling had chosen a different route in the first place things may well have been different. I know that I would have used them if they had started say a Madrid or Seville route. If I had wanted to go to BCN the price/timings would have had to have been better than LS or MON.

Vueling don't have a base at Madrid. BCN is there hub so generally that's the first route they will do. Unfortunately they had chaos there last summer so maybe cutting some of the less profitable routes to prevent that chaos this year. I'm not even sure they fly Seville to the UK.

 

[Jerry]

They don't fly any Seville UK routes

 

[lbaspotter]

Even though we've lost Vueling its still good to see that the Barcelona market area is still well served from LBA with 14x weekly flights by 3 different airlines.

Barcelona
Jet2.com = 4x weekly Mon, Thu, Fri, Sun
Monarch = 3x weekly Mon, Fri, Sun
Girona
Jet2.com = 2x weekly Mon, Fri
Ryanair.com = 2x weekly Mon, Fri
Reus
Jet2.com = 3x weekly Tue, Thu, Sat

 

[whoshotjimmi]

So...still no flight to Barcelona on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday. I do not count Reus as a reasonable alternative. The double daily (significantly cheaper) Ryanair flights over the way at Manchester make all of the LBA options feel a little bit....lacking.

For the passengers, Vueling provided a well timed inbound tourism route with a high Spanish profile that now no longer exists which will undoubtedly adversely affect said inbound tourism. This is not just a problem for LBA but for the region in general. Quite aside from the fact that LBA needs non based airlines to utilise the airport at the quieter times, it is currently cheaper for European tourists to visit the UK, making it far more attractive. This shows just how badly LBA has lost out.

Having said this, it was not unexpected. Vueling very quietly dropped the year round operation and that is never a good sign when it comes to this sort of thing. It was, perhaps, inevitable in the bigger scheme of things.

However, the biggest worry for me is the IAG connection. IAG promised big things for LBA given their support of Heathrow's expansion plans. Not only is this yet to materialise, LBA has now lost an IAG carrier. Considering all of the lost options so ably described by Aviador, this latest disaster has got to be the final nail in the current management team's coffin. Having dreadful PR is one thing, being unable to attract airlines another but to lose an airline having been promised development by the parent company? Come on guys. Next level bad.

 

[lbaspotter]

Love to know where youve got or either seen theses promises for big things by IAG to LBA, As I've never seen it!

We've not had a daily service to Barcelona for a long time. humm Vueling operated into LBA on same days as Jet2 and Monarch.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

Love to know where youve got or either seen theses promises for big things by IAG to LBA, As I've never seen it!

We've not had a daily service to Barcelona for a long time. humm Vueling operated into LBA on same days as Jet2 and Monarch.

My point regarding the lack of daily options is that people are crowing about what a good service LBA has to BCN but I simply don't see it. Yes there are (were) numerous airlines and a greater number of services to the general region but they were all concentrated on the same days at the same times extracting passengers from one another and the competition certainly did not drive down prices which are still significantly cheaper elsewhere. Quite frankly, there have been times when the LBA - BCN offering has been much better (and cheaper) than it is currently and the service has arguably worsened rather than improved.

The extent of promises made, I could not say. Conversations regarding mutual support of IAG links into Heathrow were certainly mooted on this very forum and developments with other airlines under the umbrella of the parent company were widely seen as a logical step as a result, including the raised possibility of Madrid and Iberia. For said parent group to pull one of their airline partners from LBA in spite of support having been given does not bode well for other developments, nor the relationship between LBA and IAG and, I would suggest, shows the current state of affairs in their true light.

Apologies for offending your sensibilities, lbaspotter. Call it the 'Piers Morgan' style of journalism....