Qatar Airways

[aviatorconcorde]

Which period is BHX down to five weekly?

Same period apparently. In all fairness I saw this in a facebook post so not 100pc confirmed on that.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

As far as I can see on the Qatar booking engine BHX is still daily in May. I've asked in that forum if anyone knows anything.

 

[Jerry]

Qatar is still daily for BHX but i did read they've made cutbacks elsewhere like Adelaide .

 

[superking]

It was easy to make cuts on the CWL route as its not established and it wont do any harm to routes that have been in place for quite some time. It does make you wonder if the CWL route started a little later,as its not a good start to the route. Once it gets going to 7 days a week hope it works out ok.

 

[Jerry]

These cuts are better than a delayed start. Just seen a post on the other forum that thinks they are an excuse. Apparently there are flights to Australia for £275. I'm assuming that's a round trip. Though it doesn't say what dates though. I have noticed elsewhere some negativity and the way some people have reacted it's like they've stopped the route altogether!
This service will take a while to bed in.

 

[superking]

They do take a time to bed in and I hope they give it a fair chance.
I do wonder if we will get the true reason behind it,so much speculation.

 

[Jerry]

They do take a time to bed in and I hope they give it a fair chance.
I do wonder if we will get the true reason behind it,so much speculation.

We may have already had the real reason but some people are sceptical about it.
In the end we won't be certain and i think until the flights start and we see the passenger numbers a lot of people will probably be sceptical about the route.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It still seems to be 5 x weekly for next winter. I wondered whether that had any connection with delayed aircraft deliveries.

 

[Aviador]

Disappointing news but it's still operating which is the main thing. Hopefully this will give the South West chance to get behind the Doha option from Cardiff and make it a success.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Disappointing news but it's still operating which is the main thing. Hopefully this will give the South West chance to get behind the Doha option from Cardiff and make it a success.

I don't know whether you've been following the discussions here and on other forums but there is a body of opinion (to which I subscribe) that the Qatar service has not been promoted anything like enough in the West of England. It does seem though that this is about to change which I believe is not before time.

 

[Aviador]

I'll be completely honest, I'm on catch up this evening as I've been so busy since Friday with work and family commitments so I'll have to take your word for it. The only thing is it wont make a huge difference whether they have advertised properly or not if they don't have enough aircraft available to operate the service daily. I don't see Qatar doing a "Primera" on the Cardiff route just yet.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I'll be completely honest, I'm on catch up this evening as I've been so busy since Friday with work and family commitments so I'll have to take your word for it. The only thing is it wont make a huge difference whether they have advertised properly or not if they don't have enough aircraft available to operate the service daily. I don't see Qatar doing a "Primera" on the Cardiff route just yet.

I agree. They aren't going to pull out but they and the airport owners (the Welsh Government of course) accept, from previous public comments they've made, that they see the West of England as an important part of their plans for the service. I've told a few friends/acquaintances living in the Bristol area who are long-haul VFR travellers of the CWL service. None of them were aware of it which is why I keep banging on about advertising on the English side of 'The Bridge'.

 

[Jerry]

I do wonder if with the advertising if CWL is restricted budget wise. If the money is coming out of their normal yearly advertising budget (rather than a special pot of money) which also i'd imagine would have to stretch for Flybe, TUI, KLM, Vueling and Iberia Express and other airlines then it might be limiting what they can do. I've heard of newspaper adverts and radio adverts but haven't myself seen any billboards or even bus stop advertising like TUI is doing near me (i'm going to have to take a photo of that). In my part of Cardiff there is a big billboard on Newport road that is currently advertising Royal Caribbean cruises and that would be perfect.
With the South West i hope they start really soon like they said they were going to and that it's noticeable as well.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I do wonder if with the advertising if CWL is restricted budget wise. If the money is coming out of their normal yearly advertising budget (rather than a special pot of money) which also i'd imagine would have to stretch for Flybe, TUI, KLM, Vueling and Iberia Express and other airlines then it might be limiting what they can do. I've heard of newspaper adverts and radio adverts but haven't myself seen any billboards or even bus stop advertising like TUI is doing near me (i'm going to have to take a photo of that). In my part of Cardiff there is a big billboard on Newport road that is currently advertising Royal Caribbean cruises and that would be perfect.
With the South West i hope they start really soon like they said they were going to and that it's noticeable as well.

I understand where you are coming from. However, Qatar is arguably a watershed in the airport's life. If it succeeds there is a good chance that other airlines will sit up and take notice including other long-haul carriers in the future. That being so, I would have thought that all the stops would be pulled out in support of the route.

 

[Aviador]

We can only hope travel agents are pushing the new service and if they are it's not something which you would necessarily be aware of. Do none of the airlines use the ITV regional weather forecast to advertise at all? In this neck of the woods I think Tui and Flybe have used it to advertise new routes. Perhaps this is the kind of general advertising the Qatar service needs. #Qatar #CWL

 

[Jerry]

That being so, I would have thought that all the stops would be pulled out in support of the route.

Yes i hope so. Hopefully a large part of the budget has been put aside for the South West and fingers crossed some TV adds as well in that area.

 

[Jerry]

We can only hope travel agents are pushing the new service and if they are it's not something which you would necessarily be aware of. Do none of the airlines use the ITV regional weather forecast to advertise at all? In this neck of the woods I think Tui and Flybe have used it to advertise new routes. Perhaps this is the kind of general advertising the Qatar service needs. #Qatar #CWL

Flybe did for a while sponsor ITV Wales weather and they also sponsor the kicking tee at Cardiff Blues and I believe the airport advertises at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea during Ospreys games. TUI do seem to have a bus stop add campaign at the moment as well.
As for travel agents i know several local ones are offering packages to the Far East and Thomas Cook have several packages on sale through their website and shops. Unfortunately TUI don't at the moment.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

We can only hope travel agents are pushing the new service and if they are it's not something which you would necessarily be aware of. Do none of the airlines use the ITV regional weather forecast to advertise at all? In this neck of the woods I think Tui and Flybe have used it to advertise new routes. Perhaps this is the kind of general advertising the Qatar service needs. #Qatar #CWL

ITV West Country is separate from ITV Wales. From memory Flybe used to sponsor ITV West Country weather but its sponsor is now Great Western Railway. Despite its name ITV West Country covers the entire south-west from Gloucestershire south-west to Cornwall and east to Wiltshire and south-east to Dorset as well as all counties within that area - about five million people so it has a big advertising reach.

 

[aviatorconcorde]

ITV West Country is separate from ITV Wales. From memory Flybe used to sponsor ITV West Country weather but its sponsor is now Great Western Railway. Despite its name ITV West Country covers the entire south-west from Gloucestershire south-west to Cornwall and east to Wiltshire and south-east to Dorset as well as all counties within that area - about five million people so it has a big advertising reach.

I think GWR may sponsor ITV wales weather too now, I rarley watch it so cannot be 100pc sure. Im also sure Vueling used to sponsor it when they first set up in Wales. bmibaby sponsored it for years also.

 

[vickersviscount]

Did see an a half double page advert in thursdays Bristol Evening Post, promoting the new Qatar service from Cardiff.
I believe the audited readership figures for the paper is now down to around seventeen thousand,never the less the type of people who tend to read the Post tend to be older and more likely well travelled.