Emirates

[CL44]

Hi. Not too far away in fairness (#708 in this thread). While we have high-low loaders here at BHX (used by FX and any other random freighters which come into BHX) it all depends on the warehouse space available for building upper deck pallets (as well as the expertise in knowing how to contour the pallets correctly!). A lot of the knowledge regarding pallet building comes from doing the actual job, and so like anything in life if you don't do it often enough you forget how to (no sniggering in the back!). It is not anyone's fault that the expertise has vanished it is just one of those things. Also before anyone mentions the JLR freighter flights from the 90's they were mainly inbound not outbound so there was not much building work done on those loads.

 

[BHXsupporter]

Thanks you've included more information so that's great! I wonder if PK sees freight as a strategic advantage in which case warehousing and staffing will need attention. Why not go for it?

 

[Ray Finkle]

With the wealth of facilities just up the road at EMA I'd have thought it would be very difficult to get anything more than ad hoc cargo flights into Birmingham, especially with the lack of night restrictions that EMA also has?

Who knows though, maybe I'm wrong and there are plans?

 

[Brum X]

As we are approaching the summer (EK low season) it looks like BHX will have the random EK41/42 suspensions again as reported on the dried fruit forum.

EK41/2 seems not to be operating 8 May - 31 May

 

[Ray Finkle]

I wouldn't be surprised to see cuts continue into June either, it's the height of the low season and we have a lot of new capacity that is still growing.

Just for info the CAA Stats to Dubai for April 2016 were 62610, May 44423 and June 39582. Quite a considerable drop off.

 

[smithy108]

The May cuts to Emirates schedule confirmed on routes online
Emirates May 2017 Birmingham service changes
Posted 30 March 2017 05:00

Emirates during the month of May 2017 is reducing Dubai – Birmingham operation, where it plans to operate 2 daily flights instead of 3. From 08MAY17 to 31MAY17, EK041/042 will be cancelled during this period.

EK039 DXB0735 – 1220BHX 77W D
EK037 DXB1455 – 1940BHX 388 D

EK040 BHX1420 – 0035+1DXB 77W D
EK038 BHX2140 – 0755+1DXB 388 D

 

[Ray Finkle]

Lots of reductions across many routes for the low season. If it stays as it is we've got off quite lightly with only May affected, I can see cuts for June coming though.

http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/272111/emirates-2q17-service-changes/

 

[58terminus]

Lots of reductions across many routes for the low season. If it stays as it is we've got off quite lightly with only May affected, I can see cuts for June coming though.

On the bright side thats a pretty impressive group of airports BHX is included in

 

[Brum X]

On the bright side thats a pretty impressive group of airports BHX is included in

And we have more EK flights than the other X (LAX)

 

[Deleted member 8277]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gulf-airlines-slowdown-idUSKBN1481U2

http://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2...-staff-restructuring-redundancies-downsizing/


UAE feeling the pinch.

 

[IanFarquharson]

14/4 - EK41/42 - 365 pax in 345 pax out
14/4 - EK39/40 - 383 pax in 348 pax out
14/4 - EK37/38 - 552 pax in 440 pax out

 

[Kevin Farnell]

14/4 - EK41/42 - 365 pax in 345 pax out
14/4 - EK39/40 - 383 pax in 348 pax out
14/4 - EK37/38 - 552 pax in 440 pax out

Great to see good loads on the morning Emirates service (EK41/42). Assuming a 2 class 777-300, this would give respective load factors of 85.5% and 82.9%.
I have no idea if these figures are typical, or just over the Easter period. I think we are all aware that Emirates will cut some EK41/42 services during May and possibly also during June. This is not specific to BHX and I would rather see Emirates operate in this way, than chop one of the services.

Regards

Kevin

 

[Matt995]

The morning Dubai flight EK41/2 is now showing as finishing on the Emirates website at the end of August.

Looks like from September we are therefore down to just 2 flights a day, not really the sort of news the airport wanted after losing American Airlines earlier in the year, why does long haul struggle from Birmingham??

 

[User001]

While the morning flight suffered ad hoc cancellations, this news is pretty sh*t. Emirates have always been the steadfast reliable growth machine on long haul, so to see them cut back is worrying not just for BHX, but many airports that now have a future where relatively 'safe' routes are being cut back. This won't be the last EK cutback we will see in Europe, that's for sure.

 

[Coathanger16]

As it stands, losing the morning service equates to a 29% reduction in available seats. After the first A380 was introduced, many then started asking when will the next one come. Personally I was dubious about a second A380 appearing at BHX any time soon, but now that the morning service has been cut, have the chances of the lunchtime service being upgraded to an A380 improved at all? Two A380's would still equate to a 16% reduction in available seats from now.

 

[TM3]

Some timings are more popular with passengers than others, and hence, higher yielding. I'm not a party to the info but from this I would guess the morning flight is least popular with passengers. Anyone have any info on this?

As noted above there is also some spare capacity in the load factors, but not enough to make them bad.

The ability to flex capacity in this way has only become available to EK since the runway expansion, who's to say if their preference all along would have been for 2 daily VLAs over 3 777s?

 

[Brum X]

This is bad news for BHX but not surprising to alot of people on here who have been talking about this for months. Im afraid the growth machine that was Emirates maybe over and its time for BHX and the aviation industry as a whole to look into other markets for there growth.

At least it has now happened and we can move forward. Hopefully our 2 remaining EK flights can thrive and carry on as normal.

 

[IanFarquharson]

BHX is not alone !

Emirates announced to cut capacity to 5 US destinations starting May:

1st May LAX from double daily to daily
1st May FLL from daily to 5 weekly
23rd May MCO from daily to 5 weekly
1st June SEA from double daily to daily
2nd June BOS from double daily to daily

 

[nwoody2001]

...also hearing rumours that other European routes are also being effected....

It would seem that lack of capacity at DXB, an inflexible fleet (the smallest 2 class a/c being a 426 seat 77W), ever growing competition from QR/EY and the constant bombardment from the USB3 is starting to take its toll. I suppose their growth was always unsustainable but alas this is now the result.

As we know, EK went from 2x 77W daily = 1,704 seats per day with zero competition, to 2x 77W + 1x 388 daily = 2,934 seats per day (an increase of 72% in capacity) whilst also going up against QR... something was always likely to give.

To me, as much as I wanted this to work, I think we are left with the second best option. BHX retained both QR/Doha link and the A380! We also know that that in February, EK carried more people than a daily B77W and A380 can carry which hopefully mean good things for the remaining EK and QR flight.

Hopefully flights will grow a little more sustainably in the future. Here's hoping fro 2x A380 next year!

 

[Ray Finkle]

It's a tough situation for Emirates as their morning flights have nowhere near the amount of connections available compared to the other two but DXB is so constrained that they'll find it difficult to build it up anymore.

Far be it from me to criticise an airline as successful as Emirates but it does seem crazy that their smallest equipment is a 77W. I believe that EK41/42 was the first service outside of London to come straight in on the 777 (I am happy to be corrected if not) and became a higher density two class aircraft within six months, as well as the competition that nwoody mentions above and expansion at airports overlapping our catchment area. It was always going to be a big ask. I have to wonder if a 787/A350 for a few years would have been more suitable until such time as it became more established.

Whats done is done and hopefully it'll open the door to a second A380 and/or a frequency increase from Qatar.