Route Development & Rumours

[jfy1999]

All we need now is a couple of announcements

From Thomas Cook, I'm hoping, with something in the long haul department, or Norwegian. I'm not presently concerned with new routes from NAX, I just want to see MAD stay. :s_sad

 

[Ray Finkle]

I'd love to see TCX add Orlando but sadly I think their priorities lie elsewhere. I believe they release summer 16 on Thursday?

 

[Ray Finkle]

It's been confirmed that BHX are talking to an East European airline but apparently there is 'tough competition from Bristol'. I'd say it has to be Wizz (I can't think of any other?) who have commenced or are about to commence Katowice to BRS.

It would be a fantastic addition if they could get them and could potentially lead to the likes of Prague, Budapest and Warsaw returning. Does anyone remember where they operated to from CVT, was it just Katowice and Gdansk?

With their huge operation at Luton just down the M1 I'd say it will be a tough ask though. Very hopeful but not holding my breath.

 

[User0001]

In the context of the tweet you refer to regarding East Europe, the poster asked about Romania to prompt Paul Kehoes reply.

What if we are talking about Blue Air? Romanin carrier, possibly looking to tap into the 'mid-south west corner'?

I would assume wizz are pretty much locked in at BRS now?

 

[jfy1999]

Blue Air have a few routes out of LTN too. WZZ have no Bristol routes yet although they are starting Katowice. Is one new route fierce competition seeing as BHX have Katowice flights already? Remember William Pearson went to Minsk to try and entice Belavia a while ago.

 

[nwoody2001]

I was thinking about eastern Europe only a few days ago. When you look at eastern European destinations out for both BHX and EMA, there are circa 12 destinations served, namely in Poland with little beyond. All such routes prove popular, primarily due to the labour force based in the midlands coming from the region and VFR.... however, they are all provided by Ryanair, and not a single other carrier.

You may say that would be reason for turn other airlines away, but the more I think about it, the more I see that BHX have been a monopoly airport.... just one carrier serving eastern Europe, one carrier serving the middle east, one carrier covering florida and until recently one carrier serving north east USA....

the point being that there is obviously demand for these regions, they are very profitable and have been sustained for a number of years. However, when such carriers lose interest in expanding out of BHX, its time to get competitors in to rid carriers of a monopoly and bring down fares with greater competition...

Ryanair and Eastern Europe is a prime example....

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I would assume wizz are pretty much locked in at BRS now?

Only one Wizz Air one destination from BRS - Katowice at 2 x weekly which doesn't start until June. Ryanair and easyJet seem to have the Polish market from BRS pretty well covered so I wonder really what scope there is for Wizz to develop much.

Ryanair operated Katowice until last year. As is usually the case with the Eastern European routes loads were very high but presumably the FR yield on this route wasn't what they were looking for.

I would have thought that BHX might be a better bet for Romania than BRS so Wizz might have a look.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Blue Air have a few routes out of LTN too. WZZ have no Bristol routes yet although they are starting Katowice. Is one new route fierce competition seeing as BHX have Katowice flights already? Remember William Pearson went to Minsk to try and entice Belavia a while ago.

BRS could potentially be in competition for new routes if Wizz are to expand in the UK next year. Good point about Belavia I'd forgotten about that.

I was thinking about eastern Europe only a few days ago. When you look at eastern European destinations out for both BHX and EMA, there are circa 12 destinations served, namely in Poland with little beyond. All such routes prove popular, primarily due to the labour force based in the midlands coming from the region and VFR.... however, they are all provided by Ryanair, and not a single other carrier.

You may say that would be reason for turn other airlines away, but the more I think about it, the more I see that BHX have been a monopoly airport.... just one carrier serving eastern Europe, one carrier serving the middle east, one carrier covering florida and until recently one carrier serving north east USA....

the point being that there is obviously demand for these regions, they are very profitable and have been sustained for a number of years. However, when such carriers lose interest in expanding out of BHX, its time to get competitors in to rid carriers of a monopoly and bring down fares with greater competition...

Ryanair and Eastern Europe is a prime example....

Good point.

One thing BHX hasn't really been able to do is create competition, which if done correctly can fuel growth. I guess we've got that now with AA muscling in on NYC so it'll be interesting to see what develops on that front over the coming years.

 

[jfy1999]

I remember reading elsewhere about how pernickety Wizz are when it comes to landing charges and ground operations and that BHX with its high landing fees would scare them off, to the effect that we wouldn't see Wizz Air in Birmingham till we slashed our charges.

 

[nwoody2001]

but as we know with landing charges, whilst airports publish standard charges, its very rare that airlines, especially new ones, actually ever pay those!!! If that were the case, I suspect the likes of Ryanair wouldn't even be at the airport... the only people that knows what they pay is the airport and the airline...

 

[jfy1999]

The Birmingham Airport Wikipedia page now says that Vueling's service will now start on 23 May instead of 1 June, although no citation is given. Good news if true, but could anyone confirm this?
If that is true, then Vueling have got in a punch of their own! :aggressive:

 

[Brummiegem]

The Birmingham Airport Wikipedia page now says that Vueling's service will now start on 23 May instead of 1 June, although no citation is given. Good news if true, but could anyone confirm this?
If that is true, then Vueling have got in a punch of their own! :aggressive:

Sat 23rd and Sat 30th are extra flights.
Scheduled service proper starts 1st June.

 

[jfy1999]

Do you know what the extra flights are for? Is it like a "soft opening"?

 

[Ray Finkle]

They're for the school half term holidays.

 

[jfy1999]

Air Transat has launched this year’s summer flights schedule from Birmingham to Canada. The Canadian airline is offering the lowest prices from Birmingham to Toronto. Return flights start from as little as £426 per person.

The airline has recently introduced a range of flexible economy fares, allowing passengers to make changes to their flights until the day of departure. Travellers can choose from three flight options within the economy cabin offering different levels of flexibility.

• Eco Class – the lowest price with no flexibility.
• Eco Extra – For an extra £25 each way you can have flexibility or cancel with a fee.
• Eco Max – for an extra £50 each way you can change or cancel for a fee up to 24 hrs before departure.


Passengers can also choose to book in Club Class which offers a premium economy service in a separate cabin with a wide range of benefits. With just 12 seats in this private cabin, with armchair seating in luxury leather, 9” personal televisions, menu selection for all meals and choice of complimentary wines and alcoholic beverages. Booking early is recommended.

Air Transat is the only airline allowing all passengers at the time of booking to personally select the actual seat they will sit in, with a wide selection of seating options customers can choose where they most prefer to sit.

Option Plus can also be added on to economy bookings. This is a unique package of benefits that only Air Transat offers to passengers travelling in economy from just £39 each way passengers travelling in the economy cabin enjoy lots of benefits, such as 10kgs extra luggage allowance, priority check in and boarding, an amenity kit containing a blanket, neck pillow and eye mask (yours to take away), a complimentary bottle of Prosecco and free drinks and snacks on-board. Early booking is advised due to limited availability.

Air Transat is the airline of choice for customer service, convenience and value for money.

Book now for summer 2016 fights http://www.airtransat.co.uk.

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there ray, correct me if I'm wrong, or I have read this wrong some where, but do airports subsidise airline routes at all, to help the airline off the ground... Andyc

 

[thunderchild]

I believe it does happen, from what I gather EDI subsidised the new Qatar service when it started although I'm not sure if that is still the case. For what it’s worth PK has stated that he won’t pay airlines to fly to BHX.

 

[Aviador]

I have heard a great deal over the years about the amount of routes subsidised by the Scottish Government favouring Edinburgh airport in particular and largely at the expense of Glasgow airport. Despite this I have found very little on the web to support this claim but in any case I'm not a fan of the idea of subsidising new routes. If a route is advertised and supported by both the airport and airline it shouldn't need supplementary funding to support it.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I've also seen it suggested on numerous occasions that some of the new Scottish routes are being subsidised but likewise I've never seen anything official to substantiate it. If it helps to get the route started and the subsidy is only for a limited time until it is established then, whilst not ideal, I can see the justification for it. I think the question has to be asked though how sustainable it is long term if the route can't support itself?

In the past a new long haul route was generally expected to break even within two years and be profitable after three, if not it would be dropped. Things may well have changed and I'm sure individual airlines have their own targets in place but as said above if the route is advertised and supported well enough then there is no reason why the usual start up incentives shouldn't be enough.

 

[Aviador]

With regards to the Scottish route subsidies, I understand there was a distinct leaning of funds towards international services from Edinburgh airport which lead to the reduction of flights and routes served from Glasgow airport. Again it is important to point out that I can't find any evidence to substantiate this actually happened but it does highlight the point that one airport shouldn't be able to offer reduced fees to airlines potentially endangering similar services from neighbouring airports. A former user of Forums4airports who was a prolific poster on the F4A Glasgow Airport Forum was adamant the Scottish Government was carrying out such tack-ticks to improve Edinburgh's capital city nationalistic ambitions.

Personally I believe Birmingham airport would have no problem supporting a daily Qatar Airways service to Doha. The BHX catchment area is more than big enough to sustain flights there.