Route Development & Rumours

[Ray Finkle]

Having done a quick search it looks like Lipican Aer is the operator but Aer Southeast is the brand they will use for the flights.

Aren't these the people behind Firnas?

 

[jfy1999]

I don't think they are related.

 

[Ray Finkle]

It's a shame that it won't be Mumbai but it's another link to Delhi and a third carrier to India

In January, SpiceJet had agreed to buy 100 new 737 MAX with an option of converting 50 into widebody version like the 787 Dreamliner. SpiceJet plans to launch low-cost long-haul service between Delhi- Birmingham from coming winter schedule.

http://www.business-standard.com/ar...eing-s-new-aircraft-model-117061900985_1.html

 

[Ray Finkle]

1. Air India
2. Thomson
3. Spicejet (potentially)

 

[ethanegcc]

1. Air India
2. Thomson
3. Spicejet (potentially)

Oh yes, of course. Goa services completely slipped my mind. BHX has secured those for a winter 2017 start, IIRC? So, should SpiceJet come into the fold, quite a bit of new capacity arriving for the winter season.

 

[Ray Finkle]

1. Air India
2. Thomson
3. Spicejet (potentially)

For those confused by this post it was in response to another one which has since been deleted so mine now appears a little odd

 

[Brum X]

This is great news if confirmed and will definitely make BHX the premier airport outside of London for India flights.

 

[ethanegcc]

For those confused by this post it was in response to another one which has since been deleted so mine now appears a little odd

Oh, yes sorry for deleting it - I thought considering it had been answered, that I may aswell delete it!

 

[MJH]

I seem to recall an interview with Mr Kehoe a while ago saying that Ethiad kept on saying No BHX until 2018.

As 2018 is getting closer, I wonder if there's any potential of a route to ABU DHABI?

 

[BHXsupporter]

I fully accept what you are saying regarding passengers from these areas flying from BHX instead of MAN and LHR, BUT and this is the big one, most passengers will look at a bottom line price as their defining decision maker. People in this day and age will look at how much is left in their pocket after paying for their tickets instead of thinking about using a closer Airport. If you had the chance to fly out to BOS for £2-300 cheaper from LHR instead of a connecting flight from BHX which would you do (as long as you are paying for this trip yourself that is). Money talks for most people and given the chance to save a few bob most people will take that chance even if it means travelling for an hour or two to get the Airport.

With regards to 5th freedom rights If SQ were able to sell BHX-BOS (and vice versa) this gives more of a chance for the Airline to make money on the route. At the end of the day Airlines (and investors in general) want a return on their services. If there is no return coming back to them why should an Airline put an Aircraft on a route where they will not make anything back?

Thanks CL44 for your reply. Well for 300 pounds less at LHR I'd still go to BHX since taxis to LHR cost 260 for the outbound and return journeys - I won't use a personal car after long-haul nowadays.

 

[CL44]

Well you could always look at the coach for the trip down to LHR. National Express do have various deals available and the fare covers you for two suitcases per passenger. We (as a family years ago) always used to use Flights Coaches (now there is a name from the past) when we were travelling long haul. Although I do remember one year flying from BHX-CDG-LHR-DUR (amazing what staff travel can help with! The plan was to come back DUR-LHR-AMS-BHX but we binned that idea and just caught the coach back! My main point is that there are always options and for a family travelling the main selling point will be price followed by price and ending with price.

If I were to take my wife and daughters away on holiday from BHX (based on the last trip we took a couple of years ago) we would be looking at dropping somewhere around 5K (USA on UA for a multi stop trip). When you are looking at that sort of money you will try anything to cut prices!

 

[Ray Finkle]

In the last three days I have spoken to five separate people who are travelling to Morocco this year, all from STN or LTN. I've also spoken to another two who are planning a trip there later on in the year, no guesses where they'll be travelling from.

I really hope that plugging this gap is a matter of urgency for the RD team.

 

[User001]

Morroco would be a great route to have. It's remained 'open' through the issues in North Africa.

Agadir seems to have experienced a bit of expansion of late, and Thomson serve there from other UK airports, so, there is already a carrier with the means to serve BHX-AGA.

 

[richard winterbourn]

Morocco would be an asset certainly, but who would we want to operate that route. Just as an aside a few of my Brazilian friends came to visit me in Portugal recently and they chose not to fly with TAP but with Royal Air Maroc from Sao Paulo, citing price before they booked and quality of service later. RAM do now fly from Casablanca to Man, thus opening up another route to the increasingly important countries of Brazil and South America.
With fairly considerable traffic from BHX to South America via AMS, Paris and Frankfurt (from my own experience of using these routes) i would hope that RAM might consider BHX as their next venue in the UK.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Thomson currently fly from Birmingham to Marrakesh but it's only weekly.

With the travel ban on Sharm extended into winter I kind of hoped that Thomson may have bought back Agadir to fill the gap but obviously they haven't.

Ryanair have a strong presence in Marrakesh and I'm sure they would do very well from Birmingham but if their flights from London are attracting passengers from our area they may just be happy to sit back and let it happen.

Thomson used to fly BHX to Agadir but dropped it a few years ago, with it's increase in popularity it could be a good time to bring it back.

Monarch once said that they were looking at Agadir from Birmingham, that was a while ago though and obviously nothing happened but with their current expansion it could fit in well.

 

[rollo]

Just thinking out loud but being puzzling why BHX cannot attract a service to a U.S. hub thinking Chicago or Atlanta given that apart from New York there's nothing else going west (Orlando doesn't count in this context ). I think Chicago was reasonably successful previously but 9/11 put paid to it, pretty sure freight, was a significant factor.

New York is a destination point mostly but Chicago and Atlanta are set up to serve the whole of the U.S.so demand should be there, I know that these routes have declined at MAN but they have seen a large expansion to other destinations which would decrease demand to hubs.

I'm sure that the BHX team are on the case and imagine that United, American and Delta will have looked at some point.
When you look at the success of Emirates etc going east and given that the traffic is mostly if not overwhelmingly U.K. originated whereas to the U.S. it should be a little more evenly split it just puzzles me a bit given the business, cultural ties, common language (sort of) and relative wealth of the two countries.

No doubt someone will put me right.

 

[CL44]

Good Afternoon Rollo.
Good question but one that has been covered a few times. Services have been there in the past (AA to ORD & JFK, US to PHL) nothing as yet for ATL (to the best of my knowledge). The main problem has been enticing people to use the blooming services. It is all well and good having the flights available but if passengers (and Cargo Agents such as myself) don't use them then they will soon disappear. US to PHL lasted all of 1 x Season (and if memory serves me right not 1 Kg of cargo moved in either direction). This Airport is crying out for a service to DTW / ATL and any West Coast destination you can name but we never seem to get a sniff of anything (no detriment to the Marketing team at BHX as I think they have done a great job). Time will tell if anything comes up.

I hope this helps to answer your question about the USA. Personally I think there are other destinations we still need to serve to fill the portfolio for Europe (and if possible Africa dropping a big hint there) before we look West-bound.

 

[rollo]

Good afternoon to you too CL44.
Yes I know about the defunct PHL/ORD services etc I'm pretty much steeped in BHX history remember the B.O.A.C VC10s to New York but I'm only an enthusiast and have no inside knowledge of the aviation industry, although in my work life I met many Americans who had flown over and quite a few used the ORD service and it would not have been tourist class otherwise it was always via LHR suprise.

As an aside I remember watching the Cyprus Airways A310s unloading pallet after pallet of grapefruits on their regulalr holiday flights in the 1980's sad or what?

Regards rollo.

 

[Coathanger16]

The main problem has been enticing people to use the blooming services.

I can't help but feel a lot of this has got to do with marketing.

Jet2 and Monarch are prime examples of how to do marketing well.

I've heard a radio ad for Air Transat once, yet I don't recall ever seeing anything for United. My family are always surprised when I tell them BHX has a direct flight to New York.

I think our best bet for a new N.American route is likely to be Atlanta served by Delta.

Chicago would be good, but that would either be served by American (who couldn't make JFK work, and therefore may be doubtful about Chicago) or United (who likely won't want to draw pax away from their EWR service).

Longer term, if JetBlue decide to venture into TATL, I would expect BHX to be almost top of the list for them (for the UK anyway). Heathrow/Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh & Glasgow all have decent services to the US, whilst BHX is under served. By the time JetBlue get their A321NEO-LR in 2019, BHX could be well past 15mppa.

 

[DaveBham]

Whoever adds a US route, it will need to be a decent aircraft. Fobbing midlanders off with a tatty 757 won't wash. It needs to be an A350, a 787, or even a 737max.