Route Development & Rumours

[Ray Finkle]

Blind loyalty to BA I believe.

Obviously what went on behind the scenes will only ever be known to those involved but it was suggested at the time that BA put a block on BHX and MAN getting involved with Easyjet as it was a threat to their bases. Back then I don't think anybody could have envisaged BA pulling out of BHX and MAN but they eventually did leaving both to then compete with airports that had now become established bases for LOCO's.

MyTravelLite were much more leisure focussed, although they did have a couple of city destinations in Amsterdam, Beauvais, Knock and Belfast, so BA probably didn't see them as a threat.

I think one of the biggest difficulties for both has been trying to get the balance right between full service carriers and loco's. BHX and MAN have a good compliment of full service airlines and if they suddenly started slashing prices for the locos then they would rightfully want their piece of the pie. Times have changed though and both airports look to have adapted well.

 

[nwoody2001]

Also worth remembering that MyTravelLite was a separate arm to MyTravel who also had a presence at BHX. Consequently, MyTravelLite came into the airport and a complimentary service to an already existing leisure operator, instead of a new airline looking to compete with existing airlines...

 

[nwoody2001]

According to twitter, Will Pearson and his colleague flew to NYC on AA yesterday... I wonder what they are doing over there and what the are planning to do/see? With the USA now, India a few days ago, our Route Development Team do appear to be getting about a bit..

 

[Ray Finkle]

It's great to see them making so many long haul trips these days :smile:

World Routes also starts in just over seven weeks time so it will be nice if we get some positives from that.

 

[Brum X]

According to twitter, Will Pearson and his colleague flew to NYC on AA yesterday... I wonder what they are doing over there and what the are planning to do/see? With the USA now, India a few days ago, our Route Development Team do appear to be getting about a bit..

I wonder if they get FREE upgrades or pay the nop notch prices on AA ?????

Id suspect they would get a few freebies ???/

 

[thunderchild]

Would be nice to hear about them visiting some places that aren't already served though - how about a trip to Norwegian HQ???

 

[Ray Finkle]

Unless they're meeting with the AA people to start the wheels turning for another possible destination in the future?

 

[User001]

They would have gone to Dallas to meet with AA.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I know, but it's not beyond the realms of possibility that they travelled there via JFK.

 

[nwoody2001]

well if they are in Dallas, that is what they have done, according to twitter...!

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there ray and all, now we know that the route development team have been travelling across the pond, let's hope, that even more new routes from American Airlines or even united airlines are announced, because this is what Birmingham wants to compete with other big airports like heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester, another four or five routes from both would be fantastic news for the airport and the area...let's just hope, pray and wait for any announcement...andyc

 

[User001]

Given BHX has historically struggled to maintain 2 daily flights to the USA for a long period of time, there is not a chance suddenly tripling the offering from 2 to 6 daily flights would be sustainable.

I firmly believe that the current offering of 2 daily should work, along with a couple of low frequency routes from Norwegian, but, anything more, BHX will probably struggle, due to the fact the USA megahub at LHR just 1 hour away, and MAN up the road (to which in 2018 will suddenly have a major advantage of any UK airport with USPBC, as LHR won't be getting it before 2020).

The game changer for BHX will be Norwegian. The USB3 as they are now affectionately known, and even Virgin, are too retrenched at LHR to offer BHX any meaningful increase in flights. They may get the odd extra flight every now and then, but, if you want to get the extra destinations, like Chicago, Boston, Orlando, Vegas etc, then Norwegian will be your answer if the base happens.

I know Norwegian are planning a long haul product from MAN when the USPBC opens, but, until that time, BHX has plenty of time to really get them settled in and locked in with little form of threats to lure them away.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Given BHX has historically struggled to maintain 2 daily flights to the USA for a long period of time, there is not a chance suddenly tripling the offering from 2 to 6 daily flights would be sustainable.

I firmly believe that the current offering of 2 daily should work, along with a couple of low frequency routes from Norwegian, but, anything more, BHX will probably struggle, due to the fact the USA megahub at LHR just 1 hour away, and MAN up the road (to which in 2018 will suddenly have a major advantage of any UK airport with USPBC, as LHR won't be getting it before 2020).

The game changer for BHX will be Norwegian. The USB3 as they are now affectionately known, and even Virgin, are too retrenched at LHR to offer BHX any meaningful increase in flights. They may get the odd extra flight every now and then, but, if you want to get the extra destinations, like Chicago, Boston, Orlando, Vegas etc, then Norwegian will be your answer if the base happens.

I know Norwegian are planning a long haul product from MAN when the USPBC opens, but, until that time, BHX has plenty of time to really get them settled in and locked in with little form of threats to lure them away.

What is USPBC?

I tried a Google search but could only find US-Pakistan Business Council; US-Poland Business Council.

Many thanks.

 

[User001]

Sorry Local

It's United States Pre Border Clearance. The same as what Dublin and Shannon have.

There was another delegation meeting on Thursday. Manchester is as good as confirmed for 2018 when the new pier at T2 is complete.

Heathrow not before 2020 at the very earliest due to the complexity surrounding the operation, meaning Manchester is certainly going to be the first, but, likely the only UK point to feature the facility for some time.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Hi there ray and all, now we know that the route development team have been travelling across the pond, let's hope, that even more new routes from American Airlines or even united airlines are announced, because this is what Birmingham wants to compete with other big airports like heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester, another four or five routes from both would be fantastic news for the airport and the area...let's just hope, pray and wait for any announcement...andyc

Progress is being made with regards to the US. I wouldn't like to put a time frame on an announcement though but behind the scenes things are definitely happening :s_yes

 

[DaveBham]

To be able to sustain 2 daily flights or thereabouts to 2 NYC airports would be an achievement in itself. The jury is still out on this but lets see.
If new US routes are added, by whoever, then they need to be to totally different parts of the US, so as not to put too much of a dent in the current 2. To my amateur eye, the 2 obvious destinations are, Las Vegas, and either Miami, or some Florida resort. I hope Norwegian are considering these places, although I understand the 737max wouldn't reach them, so you'd have to look at how many 787's they have on order, and draw your own conclusions as to the likelihood of them setting up at BHX.

 

[Brum X]

Noticed on Airlinerroute over the last few days that Vueling have added new routes from AGP and ALC, what is the chances of them starting a few flights to BHX over the next 12 months from these 2 sun destinations ????

 

[jfy1999]

Noticed on Airlinerroute over the last few days that Vueling have added new routes from AGP and ALC, what is the chances of them starting a few flights to BHX over the next 12 months from these 2 sun destinations ????

I wouldn't put it past them, other routes they could start are Rome-FCO and Seville.

We'll have to see what their plans for BHX are, there hasn't been any news as far as I know.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I guess it depends on if they fancy taking on Norwegian.

Normally I'd have said no chance but they seem to be doing okay with BCN, although only they will know if they are making any money on the route and connections through their main hub are an advantage. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a destination or two from their Euro bases. I guess it'll come down to how well BCN has performed and whether there are to be any gaps in the schedules.

 

[User001]

I've not seen anything to suggest any extra BHX flights from Vueling next year.

They are working on the MAN base and have said that should the MAN base succeed, they will progressively roll out more routes to other UK regional airports.

FCO is unlikely to happen from any UK regional until FCO sorts out the mess it's gotten itself into recently.