Qatar Airways

[Red Flyer]

That’s an average 86.3 pax per flight or 34% in percentage terms. It is probably the reason the CEO wasn’t over enamoured by the start of the service.

 

[Jerry]

That’s an average 86.3 pax per flight or 34% in percentage terms. It is probably the reason the CEO wasn’t over enamoured by the start of the service.

Yep but it is going in the right direction, but i do believe that Qatar may have over estimated CWLs catchment area.

 

[aviatorconcorde]

That’s an average 86.3 pax per flight or 34% in percentage terms. It is probably the reason the CEO wasn’t over enamoured by the start of the service.

What was the may figure?

I don’t think we should worry just yet. The route is on a 2 year deal so it’s not going anywhere for a while.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

Another forum is quoting 52 flights in June, making 26 daily turns. That doesn't seem right to me for a month with 30 days. From older posts I can see that it was 4x weekly. Can someone confirm the actual number of days it operated?
Rough calculations at 16 days(32 flights) of operation gives 140 average or just over 60%

 

[Jerry]

What was the may figure?

I don’t think we should worry just yet. The route is on a 2 year deal so it’s not going anywhere for a while.

2900 passengers roughly so about 68 passengers per flight.

 

[aviatorconcorde]

2900 passengers roughly so about 68 passengers per flight.

Going in the right direction. I suspect it will continue to climb into the rest of the summer. Winter will be a test mind.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Yep but it is going in the right direction, but i do believe that Qatar may have over estimated CWLs catchment area.

Going in the right direction. I suspect it will continue to climb into the rest of the summer. Winter will be a test mind.

It does seem that CWL has the best part of two years to build up the route. The time to become concerned will probably be in 12-15 months time if loads have not noticeably improved but even then it's likely that there would be some wiggle room.

Apart from the two-year marketing agreement between the WG and Qatar Airways, apparently with options to extend, the airline's CEO has publicly nailed his colours to the mast with this route against the advice of some of his colleagues. Respect and reputation are very important in that part of the world so I believe the route would have to prove disastrous for it to be pulled. That is a very unlikely scenario in my view.

 

[Jerry]

Winter will be a test mind.

I'd imagine December will be ok with Xmas and people going away for winter holidays, January will probably be dismal. November and February will be interesting in whether the route will attract rugby fans for the Australia and South Africa games and for the Six Nations though there are only 2 home games and 1 is in March! I do feel that they need to advertise the route more over the bridge to try and attract passengers from there.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I'd imagine December will be ok with Xmas and people going away for winter holidays, January will probably be dismal. November and February will be interesting in whether the route will attract rugby fans for the Australia and South Africa games and for the Six Nations though there are only 2 home games and 1 is in March! I do feel that they need to advertise the route more over the bridge to try and attract passengers from there.

It would be fascinating to discover how many passengers with origin/final destination in the West Country have been using the route and are booked for dates in the future. We had this discussion some weeks ago but it's probably down to travel agents as much as anything.

It will probably be harder to catch those who book themselves via the Internet. I don't watch much telly but my wife, who although not interested in aviation is aware of the CWL Qatar route because I told her about it, has told me she's been aware of seeing Cardiff mentioned on West Country tv adverts for Qatar Airways.

 

[Jerry]

It would be fascinating to discover how many passengers with origin/final destination in the West Country have been using the route and are booked for dates in the future. We had this discussion some weeks ago but it's probably down to travel agents as much as anything.

It will probably be harder to catch those who book themselves via the Internet. I don't watch much telly but my wife, who although not interested in aviation is aware of the CWL Qatar route because I told her about it, has told me she's been aware of seeing Cardiff mentioned on West Country tv adverts for Qatar Airways.

It is info we'll probably never know unless someone on the inside gives us the inf, but it would be great to know!
And that is good news that they are advertising across the bridge as not only would it provide a boost to this service but if the airport attracts other long haul routes in the future especially one BRS doesn't have then the airport may well be in the minds of people in the South West.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

One would hope the QR CEO will make something public about the Southwest catchment given he was the one that wanted CWL over BRS!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It is info we'll probably never know unless someone on the inside gives us the inf, but it would be great to know!
And that is good news that they are advertising across the bridge as not only would it provide a boost to this service but if the airport attracts other long haul routes in the future especially one BRS doesn't have then the airport may well be in the minds of people in the South West.

BRS found it a slog to get people to use their Continental EWR route. The load factors were actually pretty good until the recession began to bite three years after the route began (and even then they were nowhere near a disaster), but it seems a lot of discounted fares featured, especially in business-first.

CWL's task will be to persuade enough people to turn west along the M4 instead of east. From much of the Bristol city region reaching LHR by road usually takes about 45 minutes longer than it does to reach CWL. Lower fares at CWL would help but that doesn't usually augur well for yields. Some people might also appreciate a better passenger experience at a small airport than at the LHR zoo. Against that, the M4 zoo provides such a choice of routes, carriers and fares.

One would hope the QR CEO will make something public about the Southwest catchment given he was the one that wanted CWL over BRS!

He was somewhat contradictory with this point. He included BRS's main catchment in the 6.4 million catchment he said was CWL's (which he said was bigger than BRS's) which could only be taken as meaning he expected the West Country to play a part in the success of the CWL route. He also said that one reason for not choosing BRS was that West Country people had a choice of other airports, implying that not enough would use a Qatar BRS service; yet he apparently expects West Country people to use CWL (because he believes they live in the CWL 6.4 million catchment) when he thinks they might not use BRS. I scratched my head over that one.

There were a number of other reason he gave for using CWL, some more persuasive in my judgement.

 

[Jerry]

Does anyone know what's happening with this mornings Doha flight as it's supposed supposed to have departed well over an hour ago?

 

[Jerry]

And just after i posted that it departed! Lol

 

[aviatorconcorde]

And just after i posted that it departed! Lol

It’s going to be an hour late arriving too. Someones not making their connection.

 

[Jerry]

It’s going to be an hour late arriving too. Someones not making their connection.

Well hopefully for passengers on that flight their connections aren't that tight.

 

[Jerry]

Some photos of todays 787 8 A7-BCX
View attachment 9348

 

[Jerry]

Todays aircraft is A7-BCR which is currently over Romania and running late and is a 787 8 as usual. It is not the A320 A7-AHX like FR24 says it is.

 

[aviatorconcorde]

Todays outbound CWL-DOH is quite full in Economy, but not overly full in Business i hear.

 

[Jerry]

It is more holiday season now so business travel will be less.
Overall does anyone know how the business class cabin loads have been holding up?