Route Development & Rumours

[jfy1999]

You tease...my guess is Finnair and Delta??

 

[Ray Finkle]

Interesting.

I think Finnair is the worst kept secret at the moment.

Delta would be interesting but where too? Atlanta would offer the most connections and if an A330 or 767 were used it could allow for greater cargo opportunities to help the yield. Alternatively if they are to use a 757 then it would be to JFK. That would still offer a decent amount of connections but three carriers all to New York may be overkill? Unless American are thinking of starting Chicago instead of JFK rather than aswell as?

 

[thunderchild]

What are the odds on FIji Airways?

 

[Brum X]

Im probably going to be controversial now but i wouldnt want Delta to start this year, maybe sometime in 2017 as we have already discussed AA are still finding there feet at BHX and apparently are happy with there BHX operation. As mentioned too much capacity in a short period of time can be overkill, esp for an airport like BHX which until just under 12 months ago, had 1 carrier serving the USA, so to go upto x 3 in 1 year or so may be too much. The same with the proposed BHX-Boston with Norweigan, however this route is not expected until at least 2017 so that would be ok and the BHX market should beable to take on the extra capacity.

Just my thoughts though.

As for Finnair, cant wait to see them at BHX.

 

[nwoody2001]

well people say that Finnair are the worse kept secret, but intil they are officially announced, they are only as good as the most outlandish rumour. 12 months ago, TAP were apparently to sign on the dotted line but they they had a change in strategy and don't look to be coming to BHX anytime soon.....

Finnair - Helsinki
TAP - Lisbon
Lot Polish Airlines - Warsaw
Austrian - Vienna
an expansion of SAS - Stockholm/Oslo

All of the above are new full-service airlines that BHX should be able to attract to plug some of the obvious gaps in our network, and im fairly confident with many that we could see them join us in the next year or 2 but that's just guess work. Until anything is announce however, they are just pie in the sky.

The USA connections are an interesting one.... with rumours that we could see another route from AA, it wouldn't shock me is Delta are now taking note.. lets just hope its not to NYC but to another route. Off season, BHX does appear to struggle with loads going across the pond, but we do seem to be ale to fill the front end enough to keep the airline happy!!!

 

[Ray Finkle]

The one thing that Delta would give is a foot in the door to Virgin.

If any new service is successful and they see enough pax heading down to Florida then, as long as the numbers add up, it may prompt Virgin Holidays to try something direct in the future.

Just for info in Feb 2016 Delta have 83 destinations served from JFK with 188 daily departures. Atlanta sees 218 destinations served with 969 daily departures. Quite a difference.

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there ray and all, now that would be a massive plus if delta were to decide and come to Birmingham, this is the type of foot hold that Birmingham badly needs to move it more forward than at present, this might also bring Virgin in as well, as we all know that delta and Virgin are in partnership, what a combination that would be if that was to pull off, well we'll have to wait and see.. Andyc

 

[Jon Dempsey]

No news of Africada then!!

















I'll get my coat

 

[justplanecrazy]

Yes you guessed right finnair and delta. Where delta will be flying I don't know but can't see it being to New York.

 

[User001]

Delta would be to one of 3 points. New York, Atlanta or at huge push, Detroit.

I would expect Detroit or JFK to be a B757 if it happened, and ATL to be a B767-300.

The DL/VS partnership has opened up a few routes in the UK regions, with ATL/JFK from MAN and JFK from EDI.

I wouldn't expect any route to start before May 2017, as new UK-USA routes always tend to start in the summer as winter is weaker, and it's too late for an airline like Delta to announce a new route now for S16

 

[Ray Finkle]

No news of Africada then!!

















I'll get my coat

This is the latest from them.

Delays in commencing our maiden flight is beyond our control, once regulator (GCCA) completes approval process, Africaada Airways will fly!

I take the point about excess capacity to the US but I have a feeling that any potential Delta route would be seasonal (to start with at least). American had some great loads over the summer and only really dipped once the winter period kicked in. Looking forwards and their seat maps show some very healthy bookings from Easter onwards, so I think BHX could definitely handle more capacity over the summer months. I'd be concerned about over capacity for winter though if it was year round.

 

[richard winterbourn]

Africaada????? Lovely looking website; getting in contact, well if you use their email address to pose questions about routes and start-up dates, then it doesn't function. You will get a reply saying it could not be delivered.

Perhaps that says it all!

 

[Ray Finkle]

I thought I'd sum up some of the rumours that we have at the moment.

Emirates - EK37/38 to go A380 from next year. It's consistently full and doesn't see 3 class aircraft used.

American Airlines - Are considering bringing back Chicago.

Delta Airlines - A potential new route most likely to JFK or ATL.

Turkmenistan - To go totally 777 sometime this year.

Uzbekistan - To return with 2x weekly 763's to Tashkent.

Beijing Capital - Have been in town so hopefully the finer details have been sorted. They applied for Beijing and Hangzhou.

Vueling - Four new routes have been mentioned for 2017 (PMI, AGP, FCO and ORY). They now have big plans for Luton which may or may not affect us. One to wait and see.

Norwegian - Rumoured base has been on and off. Long haul to the likes of Boston and Baltimore has been mentioned aswell as the potential of India. Another wait and see.

Finnair - Strongly rumoured and Tom Screen himself mentioned another Oneworld airline. As has been correctly pointed out until it's confirmed it means nothing.

LOT Polish - Have said 'Birmingham is coming, hopefully soon' on social media. Not the best source of info.

India - Lots of trips by the BHX team in recent months. Mumbai has been mentioned, if it does happen then Air India or Norwegian seem most likely.

Canada - Tome Screen has specifically mentioned that they are after growth into Canada. Westjet have also been mentioned as talking to BHX.

Not really a rumour but this winter finally sees Thomson break with tradition and have two long haul flights on Sunday's and Monday's. Could they finally be persueded to base that second 787 permanently and open up some more routes and/or frequencies?

If anyone wants to add to that feel free :smile:

 

[User001]

The thing with Norwegian, is, I wonder if they are 'teasing' airports to keep them sweet?

Look at it this way.

Constant blurbs state that they want to make BHX a 'long haul base' but lack the aircraft to do it.

Say they want to run Cork-Boston flights but lack the permissions (they have the permissions but that's another story).

They then drop names like Shannon, Manchester, Edinburgh, Barcelona and so on, all possible long haul flight airports, but, don't actually deliver.

Then, out of pretty much no where, CDG climbs through the ranks and gets 3 long haul routes this summer straight off the bat.

If Norwegian were as serious about BHX long haul as they say they are, why could BHX not have got some long haul flights from the B787 being used at CDG? BHX is rip for some long haul leisure now, and it's only a matter of time before someone else realises that.

Don't get me wrong, Norwegian probably are serious about long haul at BHX, but, I'd like to think BHX are talking to others as it seems like the promise that's taking time to deliver.


Another thing that I wonder, When airlines like Thomas Cook and Thomson are expanding long haul, and doing it properly, Norwegian seems to be having a fair few issues. From labour, to rights, to having to set up multiple AOC's, it just seems to me Norwegian are not quite getting the full thing right just yet.

 

[jfy1999]

Three more rumours I think are worth mentioning:

a) United Airlines—I believe the reconfigured 767-300 is slated for 2017?

b) On November 12, User001 posted:

Hearing that Air Transat could make Birmingham year round from next year. Would remain 1 weekly throughout, with A310 used in winter.

Have there been any further rumours regarding this?

c) Wizz Air—in the future they could start any number of routes to Eastern Europe!!

 

[Ray Finkle]

Norwegian have always had Paris due for long haul, along with Barcelona and Rome who I believe will be next. I don't think I've ever heard them suggest that Birmingham will be a long haul base, just that it could be connected to the US east coast and that there may be flights to India.

All along Norwegian have maintained that the UK regions won't see long haul before 2017. Tom Screen said that they were in talks with an airline about routes to the US and the Caribbean and that they wouldn't start until 2017. Whether they have been successful in those talks will come to light in time.

I agree that they are a bit of a shambles with all of the bureaucratic issues that they are having. I also wonder if they are trying to do 'too much too soon'. Airlines have been guilty of this before and it's often ended badly.

Three more rumours I think are worth mentioning:

a) United Airlines—I believe the reconfigured 767-300 is slated for 2017?

b) On November 12, User001 posted:

Hearing that Air Transat could make Birmingham year round from next year. Would remain 1 weekly throughout, with A310 used in winter.

Have there been any further rumours regarding this?

c) Wizz Air—in the future they could start any number of routes to Eastern Europe!!

A) March 2017.

B) I'm not gonna hold my breath.

C) Potentially there could be something but I'm not saying any more than that at the moment.

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there ray and all, as you have said before, all these announcements do and can take time before anything is really agreed, all depends on what Birmingham is prepared to offer them in a deal, compared to what any other better offers or deals from Manchester, Heathrow or Gatwick, to what Birmingham offers them, that's when they decided the better before any announcement is made...Andyc

 

[Hassaan]

Is the demand for Chicago-Birmingham (and vice versa) still there? More so than JFK? I will be very surprised to get another A380 flight next year.

Norwegian via Oslo (?) to India? Seems an odd choice, surely an Indian airline would be a better option?

 

[jfy1999]

Norwegian via Oslo (?) to India? Seems an odd choice, surely an Indian airline would be a better option?

No, any flights from BHX to India would be direct with the 787.

 

[thunderchild]

I’m not convinced about Delta – now they’ve handed ATL-MAN over to VS the only other UK flights outside LHR are from JFK to MAN and EDI, both of which have been chopped and changed more times than I care to remember.

DL to ATL would be most welcome but I fear them launching JFK-BHX if only to see AA off and then dropping the route altogether.