Route Development & Rumours

[Ray Finkle]

Yeah I think it's been a good year and passing 10 mppa will be the icing on the cake. I'd like to keep the momentum going and if there is two more announcements due Qatar and Wizz would be most welcome :s_yes

I defo think Mr K would of included Hainan, he likes stuff like this and he wouldnt of missed Hainan, in fact expect a bigger party at BHX this year compared to last. Charter or not.


As for the Seventh airline though ??? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


Maybe the colourful MOD airline that operates the MD-87 from BHX to Hannover and Paderborn ????

I wondered if it was one of the charters. Enter Air have a pretty regular programme over the summer?

 

[Brummiegem]

Could this be the seventh airline you are all referring to?
I saw Ray had referred to Wizz in an earlier post,did you know or hear something because this is a surprise to me?
If Qatar are to start up then I would think we will hear from before the end of the summer,hopefully sooner as it depends when they will want to start the flights.Because EK have such a head start on them they are going to have to do something really special to get noticed I think.A350 would be a decent start,as it has been rumored before.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I didn't hear anything this time, it seems to have taken most by surprise which BHX announcements seem to do.

Not too long ago Mr K Tweeted that BHX were 'in discussions' with a European airline but there was 'strong competition from Bristol'. As Wizz have recently commenced KTW-BRS I assumed that BRS would be after more routes from them and this was the competition he was referring to. Therefore the airline in question was Wizz. Lucky guess really :smile:

The reason I think QR will be the 7th is that Will Pearson was in Doha earlier this year (I guess it could have been a holiday). Mr Pearson also confirmed at Routes Middle East that they were close to sealing a deal and when asked about Qatar Mr K replied "We'll see!". Mr K is usually pretty honest when asked questions and doesn't appear to be afraid to say we tried but they said no.

Time will tell :smile:

 

[Jon Dempsey]

The reason I think QR will be the 7th is that Will Pearson was in Doha earlier this year (I guess it could have been a holiday). Mr Pearson also confirmed at Routes Middle East that they were close to sealing a deal and when asked about Qatar Mr K replied "We'll see!". Mr K is usually pretty honest when asked questions and doesn't appear to be afraid to say we tried but they said no.

I can't see any commercial reason for Qatar starting a service until the morning Emirates service has bedded in unless they are purely looking at Doha tourism.

They will be in direct competition for the African / Asian / Australasian market with their competitor already established.
If they announce in the autumn, they will have missed the biggest ticket sales window.

IMO, the AM Emirates service was started with half an eye on keeping other ME3 operators out of Birmingham.

 

[Ray Finkle]

An interesting Tweet from Anthea Mcintyre MEP:

Great meeting with @Paul_Kehoe and team @bhx_official Birmingham Airport. Direct flights to more destinations soon.

The last sentence sounds interesting :smile:

 

[Brum X]

An interesting Tweet from Anthea Mcintyre MEP:

Great meeting with @Paul_Kehoe and team @bhx_official Birmingham Airport. Direct flights to more destinations soon.

The last sentence sounds interesting :smile:

Ooooooooh this kind of thing gets me excited. Becouse what will be next for BHX, there is so many opportunites that could come our way. New ME3 airline, Norweigan announce BHX base, Vuelling add more flights, Wizz Air Expansion. We could see some expanbsion from the likes of Ryanair.

Exciting times

 

[Brum X]

And i didnt even mention CHINA :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

 

[Ray Finkle]

I'm not really sure what to make of this :shok:

Birmingham Festival's Royal Link With Africa

BIRMINGHAM'S FOURTH annual Caribbean festival will have a royal flavour this year as the landmark even has had the backing of West African-based Prince

One of Africa’s foremost investors, the prince has just had a whistle-stop tour of Britain’s second city where he also finalised plans with Birmingham International Airport for direct flights to the Gambia with Africaada Airways.

As the chairman of Royal Africa Holdings, Prince Ebrahim’s proposals will bring a much-needed jobs boost, while also opening up West Africa to the people of Birmingham as a potential new holiday destination.

Direct flights from Birmingham would operate three times a week with Gambia as the central hub connecting Ghana and Sierra Leone

http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/b ... ink-africa

 

[Ray Finkle]

From the Africaada webite:

Africaada Airways is expected to begin operations from September 2015, with Gambia as its HUB; Africaada Airways will be introducing state-of-the-art aircrafts, expanding flight routes from Gambia serving the entire west African sub-region with connecting international flights from the Gambia, thus improving and leading the way on air passenger services for greater Convenience, Connectivity, Consistency, Cost-effective and unrivaled Customer-care travel.

Africaada Airways fleet currently consists of three Aircrafts. One Boeing 747 for our Long Haul United Kingdom and European route, one Medium Haul ( Airbus A320) and one Short Haul (Airbus A318).

Africaada Airways will fly along the west coast of Africa (ECOWAS) maintaining Banjul International Airport as its home, and serving destinations including United Kingdom (Birmingham International Airport and Gatwick International Airport), and other European destinations to be announced later.

http://www.africaadaairline.com/

 

[Ray Finkle]

Their Facebook suggests that their new '747' is named BABILI MANSA yet the picture seems to show an A330???????

 

[Brum X]

Damn, you beat me to it, Mr Finkle :shok:




Well what can i say, this is also out of the blue.


Also can see this kind route working out of Birmingham, ive thought for a long time that BHX should have more African/Caribbean routes.


And we might be getting a 747 :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:

 

[CL44]

While I hope beyond all else that this works, I remember Hellenic Imperial. Don't get me wrong I am always happy to have new Airlines flying into BHX but has the business plan been thought out fully. Do we have enough traffic to Banjul to warrant even a weekly flight? If it comes off I will be one of the first to congratulate them but I am not holding my breath.

 

[Ray Finkle]

After doing a little Googling it appears as if these are part of the Africaada Financial Services Group who suggest they are the sponsors of this years Birmingham Caribbean Festival With a three year sponsorship deal, Africaada’s mission is to establish Birmingham as the global centre and permanent home of the world’s biggest African-centric festival.

It seems as if His Royal Highness, Prince Ebrahim of the Gambia will be the festivals most distinguished guest. Africaada’s mission is to establish Birmingham as the global centre and permanent home of the world’s biggest African-centric festival.

http://citylicious.net/africaada-caribb ... irmingham/

I'm not holding my breath :dirol:

 

[CL44]

A wise move if I may be so bold Ray. Stranger things have happened but Banjul was big a few years ago . If the market was still there then someone would be flying the route. Three flights a week to Banjul with connections to Sierra Leone and Ghana? How many Airlines have opened routes to Ghana over the years and ended up bankrupt. And Sierra Leone is hardly a party destination is it. Sorry but the more I think about this the more the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

 

[Brum X]

Interesting though.


Maybe another BIMAN Saga though ????????

 

[nwoody2001]

Its certainly not one we should depend our future growth on but still interesting....

one thing I would say is that the amount of potential in this region of Africa is amazing. yes there is a lot of poverty there, but I was in Sierra Lione last year for charity and the economic activity there is huge. We flew BA from heathrow and was amazed that it was filled with English engineers. China is pumping tonnes of money into the region building new airports, new roads, new cities and a huge amount of infrastructure. consequently by virtue of the amount of nature resources there, there are also a number of very rich people there. Is someone therefore wants to create a new and premier airline of central Africa, then its not beyond the world of possibilities... lets wait and see....

 

[Ash]

Gambia is a republic so what is this Ebrahim supposed to be the "prince" of? Bel-air?

 

[Jon Dempsey]

Wouldn't take a major re-image if they used ex-BA metal!!

 

[thunderchild]

Hmmm......believe it when I see it.

 

[Brummiegem]

To think I was surprised by the WizzAir announcement,and now this.
To be fair Banjul was popular as a winter retreat for British holiday makers,although I don't know what it's current status is.
Also isn't West Africa where Ebola broke out??!!
I shall follow this one with interest but I am not sure 3 a week will work,especially if it's on a wide body aircraft.However we will see!