Route Development & Rumours

[Kevin Farnell]

Some very interesting points there, Jennyjet.

Birmingham chiefs boast about available capacity but honestly, Vueling, Ryanair, Flybe and the likes of TUI and Thomas Cook? Is this what BHX needs and deserves today?

Much as I would love to see expansion of long haul services at BHX, you also have to consider the 'bread and butter' routes.
The long haul routes that you mention would be lovely, but at best would be once per day. The short haul operators on the other hand would each be serving several destinations throughout the day, providing BHX with a continual throughput of passengers and use of facilities, as well as landing fees generated.
If you look at both LGW and MAN, they both have a good balance of both low cost and premium short haul along with extensive long haul networks.
BHX has the facilities to cope with expansion in both markets and I would like to see BHX management to continue their excellent record in adding airlines and encouraging growth from those already established.
I think that BHX has a very good balance of both airlines and routes, that not only other UK, but many European airports would envy.
I believe that long haul growth will continue at BHX, but it's not going to happen over night.

Regards

Kevin

 

[Brum X]

Id love to see Thai Airways operate BHX-BKK. Thailand has a booming tourist industry and some of the beaches are out of this world

Also these kind of routes would give BHX its first MEGA longhaul route

 

[User001]

I'm not saying BHX-BKK will never happen, but. I'd highly doubt Thai Airways in their current format.

They are having serious issues at the moment, as the problem is that yes, Thailand is great for Tourism, but, the yield is pants. It's the reason in the UK we don't see Thai Airways outside of London, Norwegian have not yet started an LGW-BKK route despite their love of Gatters long haul and even BA only operate a 3 class (no F) B772 on the LHR-BKK route.

Your best bets to Thailand would either be Norwegian (eventually) to BKK or Thomson to Phuket.

 

[David_itl]

My vision? To see Sri Lankan, Garuda, Kenya Airways,

They are the boutique airlines that any regional European airport would do extraordinarily well in attracting. As it stands, Sri Lankan is cutting back on European routes, Kenya Airways chopping staff as it's unprofitable and Garuda will do well to maintain a London presence (big problem is that they can't operate Jakarta-LHR non-stop but can do LHR-Jakarta non-stop.... it's the much bigger version of LCY-JFK!)

 

[Dobbo]

The other problem is being sandwiched between LHR (the UK hub airport) and MAN (the major regional airport). There is s big opportunity with HS2, BHX will need to seize the opportunity.

 

[jfy1999]

The other problem is being sandwiched between LHR (the UK hub airport) and MAN (the major regional airport). There is s big opportunity with HS2, BHX will need to seize the opportunity.

Some Brummies got worried that HS2 could cut both ways, as it might be seen as a faster way to get down to LHR and therefore draw more passengers south-east. Fortunately, from a BHX perspective, the proposed Heathrow spur was dropped from the plans last year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-31814933

 

[Dobbo]

I think that's one of the main question marks about HS2 in general. Which way does it cut the most?

Personally I think it is good for BHX and MAN - the longer Heathrow and Gatwick are delayed the more economic activity spreads away from London.

 

[jfy1999]

Transavia are planning to become a pan-European airline and intend to announce some surprise destinations...just a case of watch and wait.

http://www.routesonline.com/news/29.../transavia-aims-for-pan-european-lcc-success/

 

[Ray Finkle]

Potentially the airline that are recruiting cabin crew for Birmingham?

Wikipedia shows that they handled around the 10 million pax mark so more than the 6 million that the advert suggested but you never know.

 

[Brum X]

I think it was me who mentioned Transavia ?????

 

[jfy1999]

I think it was me who mentioned Transavia ?????

Yes, all I did was post an official press release in addition to what you said earlier.

 

[Brum X]

Yes, all I did was post an official press release in addition to what you said earlier.

I wasnt having a go mate. To be honest i only said it a few weeks ago as a joke as everybody was trying to figure out who our new airline is going to be. How funny though it is is Transavia ??

 

[jfy1999]

This doesn't concern BHX as such, however BA/Sun-Air have announced flights from Aalborg and Billund to Humberside in conjunction with Siemens who have a contract to fill the planes, and this paragraph in the report caught my eye:

This is not the first time Sun-Air has worked with industry to support new route launches. Early last year it worked with UK multinational pharmaceutical and biologics company AstraZeneca to introduce two rotations per day, four days per week between Cambridge and Gothenburg from the end of March. It is understood that the business was guaranteeing 20 seats on each of the Dornier 328 flights, which operated for a year-long period but ended last month after Cambridge was closed to regular commercial passenger flights.

Now, is there a chance of them flying to BHX as was rumoured before they started CBG?

http://www.routesonline.com/news/29...inks-to-denmark-driven-by-siemens-wind-power/

 

[nwoody2001]

Indeed I know a few of us made the RD team at BHX aware of this when Cambridge closed. Can only assume discussions are either on-going or came to nothing?!

 

[User001]

The Cambridge flights are still going, they are now purely a charter for Astra Zenica and struck a deal with CBG to continue running. A lot of Sun Air runs on corporate contracts, hence the HUY-BLL, MAN-BLL, CBG-GOT, MAN-GOT and MAN-GRQ from 22nd Oct.

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there ray, how many destinations in total, not including any duplicate destinations, does Birmingham airport fly to in total, because I have just wrote down all destinations off Wikipedia, and it totals to 131, is this correct.... Andyc

 

[Ray Finkle]

Germany

Hamburg
Hanover
Berlin
Munich
Frankfurt
Stuttgart
Dusseldorf
Paderborn

Belgium

Brussels

Holland

Amsterdam
Rotterdam

Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Iceland

Keflavik

Denmark

Copenhagen

Finland

Enontekio
Kittila
Roveniemi
Ivalo

Italy

Rome
Milan
Verona
Catania
Naples
Venice
Alghero
Turin
Genoa

United Kingdom

Edinburgh
Glasgow
Aberdeen
Inverness
Isle of Man
Newcastle
Guernsey
Jersey
Belfast International
Belfast City
Newquay

Ireland

Dublin
Knock
Waterford
Shannon
Cork

France

Paris
Lyon
Brest
Avignon
Perpignon
Rennes
La Rochelle
Nantes
Biarritz
Bordeaux
Bergerac
Nice
Grenoble
Chembery
Bastia

Switzerland

Zurich
Geneva

Austria

Innsbruck
Salzburg

Malta

Malta

Cyprus

Larnaca
Paphos

Greece

Corfu
Kefalonia
Zakynthos
Kalamata
Preveza
Chania
Heraklion
Rhodes
Kos
Santorini
Athens
Mytilene
Kavala
Skiathos

Turkey

Izmir
Bodrum
Dalaman
Antalya
Istanbul

Spain

Madrid
Barcelona
Lleida
Girona
Alicante
Malaga
Murcia
Almeria
Mahon
Palma
Ibiza
Gibraltar
Reus
Tenerife
Las Palmas
Arrecife
Fuerteventura

Portugal

Lisbon
Faro
Porto Santo
Sal
Boa Vista

Poland

Warsaw
Poznan
Wroclaw
Krakow
Gdansk
Katowice
Bydgoszcz

Hungary

Budapest

Lituania

Vilnius

Czech Republic

Prague

Slovakia

Bratislava

Romania

Bucharest

Bulgaria

Sofia
Bourgas

Croatia

Pula
Dubrovnik
Split

Egypt

Sharm El Sheik
Hurghada

Tunisia

Enfidah
Djerba

Morocco

Agadir
Marrakech

Gambia

Banjul

Canada

Toronto

United States of America

New York JFK
New York Newark
Orlando Sanford

Mexico

Cancun

Jamaica

Montego Bay

Dominican Republic

Punta Cana

Barbados

Bridgetown

Qatar

Doha

United Arab Emirates

Dubai International
Dubai Al Maktoum

Turkmenistan

Ashgabat

India

Delhi
Amritsar

It is early so I may have missed one out or counted incorrectly but I get 144 that are served at the moment?

 

[jfy1999]

I thought Thomson dropped their plans to serve Agadir, Alghero and Split this year.

 

[hishaq96]

Also PIA to Islamabad

 

[Daza]

Great list Ray thanks for compiling.
Flybe will also fly to Limoges (LIG) on Saturday and Wednesdays from 21st May
Daza