Manx2

[Bigman]

BBC reporting that IOM to both LBA and Oxford canned for Winter after 7/1/13. They say they should be back for the TT race season, but doesn't sound very hopeful beyond that.

 

[Bigman]

Strange really as the October stats show an increase from 312 to 383. Still, it won't make a great hole in the passenger figures.

 

[Skyflyer1]

I wounder will flybe pick up the route as manx2 is ending Newcastle in may and flybe is taking over

 

[LBA787]

Well Let's hope it will just be stopping for the generally quieter months of jan/feb/mar and will be back on sale for the busier summer time.

I wounder will flybe pick up the route as manx2 is ending Newcastle in may and flybe is taking over

Manx2 fly about 20 pax a day. I would guess the flybe Q400 is too much for a route like LBA-IOM.

Shame if the service is ending as I think IOM is one of the oldest links LBA has?

 

[White Heather]

Yes it certainly is and goes right back to the commencement of post war civil flying from LBA in the 1950's. In the 60's and 70's the route was operated by aircraft such as Handley Page Heralds, so what we have today are much smaller aircraft than we had in those days.

 

[Aviador]

Disappointing but not a huge loss. It's a funny old route is IOM as it's been tried by so many airlines but it never seems to be a roaring success they expect it to be.

Strangely enough doesn't Easyjet fly the route from Liverpool? I wonder how it would perform with a better aircraft type or with a mainline airline.

 

[Bigman]

IOM punters must have some preference to the North West. From the October CAA stats:

Liverpool - 13996
Manchester - 10661
Blackpool - 1929
Newcastle - 415
LBA - 383

Probably come over for the day for shopping, so naturally airlines that offer a decent frequency, with decent planes at a decent price will win every time.

 

[White Heather]

The offering from LBA on the IOM route is, and has been pathetic for some considerable time and LBA deserves a service that is superior to that offered by Manx 2. Just the aircraft size is enough to put off many passengers.

 

[Skyflyer1]

I think that is correct white heather as manx2 have had some bad publicity latley, with the two crashes in Cork and IOM from Leeds.

 

[White Heather]

Yes, their accidents will have done little to inspire more passengers and in reality they have been reducing their services from LBA for some time, but really, when you look at how many passengers fly to the IOM from MAN and LPL combined, and consider how many of those are from East of the Pennines, LBA should have better than Manx2. The probem seems to be finding an airline with the right size aircraft for what is a very short sector. In the 80's the ideal aircraft was the Shorts 360 as operated by the likes of Manx Airlines, but even they were unpopular being unpressurised 'sheds'.l I suppose the ideal is the Jetstream 41 which of course did operate the LBA route at one time, but after that it starts to get difficult. Dash 8's 300's are no longer about, 400's are probably too big (so forget Flybe), Saab 2000 might be OK once established but I doubt Eastern would be interested, so that doesn't leave much does it? The Saab 340 as operated by Flybe/ Loganair would be about right - small enough for the route and big enough not to put passengers off - but other than Loganair who has those? Nobody?

 

[lbaspotter]

Well to be honest with you Heather just recently Manx2 have been using the Humberside based airline, Links Air, BAe Jetstream 31 aircraft, G-EIGG and G-LNKS which was the idea aircraft size for the service at just 19 seats but the killer for the route has to be the once daily schedule and along with the likes of Flybe and Easyjet over the Pennines offering multiple daily rotations using Dash 8's and Airbus A319's..

Manx2 have used the Metroliner, Let410 and DO228 aircraft on the Leeds/Bradford - Isle of Man in the past few years as well. Also didn't Eastern Airways once try the Isle of Man route when they took over the British Airways/Manx operations using a Jetstream 41 but also failed with it?

 

[channex 757]

How about BMI regional with the embraer 135 operating the route?

 

[Bigman]

You don't carry nearly 14,000 passengers a month by using a J32 or a J41. Easyjet must be doing something right.

So why shouldn't we think big and have a jet operation from this side of the Pennines? We need someone like FlyBe who can run a twice daily ER175 operation, which is good for both business and the cheaper leisure market. When the Trinity shopping centre and Leeds Arena open next year, there may well be more demand for flights into LBA so let's not give them LPL and MAN as the only options.

 

[Aviador]

Spot on Bigman, I totally agree. Manx2 don't offer what passengers expect these days. People don't want to fly on a "rubber band" aircraft, they want to fly on a jet aircraft.

Easyjet seem to be making a good go of it from Loverpool. We might consider an A319 as overkill but you need to remember that an A319 (or similar) to the Isle of Man wont use much fuel so in theory it should be a relatively cheap route to operate.

 

[lbaspotter]

Sorry but you guys are in dream land if you think any airline would consider doing the Leeds-Isle of Man route with a larger aircraft such as the a Dash 8 or an Airbus A319? It's just not going to happen especially with Easyjet or even flybe who have been cutting back at LBA recently.

Another Idea maybe to get Loganair to do GLA-LBA-IOM-LBA-GLA as a through service using a Saab 340. But I think we have more chance of Manx2 continuing the route if LBA's management can maybe help them out and do a deal which may include reduced fees so to keep the current service using the BAe Jetstream 31, which after all isn't such a bad aircraft compared to the LET410 and Metroliner’s they have used.....

 

[Aviador]

LBAspotter, these figures were posted by Bigman on the last page.

Liverpool - 13996
Manchester - 10661
Blackpool - 1929
Newcastle - 415
Leeds Bradford - 383

The passenger numbers speak for themselves really, so I see no real reason why a more suitable airline couldn't be found for this route.

Guess who serves Newcastle too?

 

[lbaspotter]

Don’t forget that the Liverpool-Isle of Man route is subsidised by the NHS who block book seats so to get patience’s from the Island to the mainland to receive medical treatment.

Also I think there are less ferry crossing now-a-days from Liverpool to the Island so more people choose to fly between the 2 points as its so cheap and quick.

 

[White Heather]

True but even so, Leeds and the Isle of Man are both finance centres and there must be a significant number of the LPL and MAN pax who would fly to LBA if a decent service was available. It really is rediculous to have the vast majority of passengers from East of the Pennines having to travel over to MAN and LPL to get a flight - especially as in doing so they have driven (or got the train) half way to where they want to get to.

This is exactly the sort of situation whereby LBA needs to get out of the habit of thinking we can't have something better because of services from the NW. We need another operator on IOM to replace Manx2 using larger, more suitable equipment. The Saab's seem ideal but I can't imagine either Loganair or Eastern being interested - didn't Eastern drop the route in the first place when they took over the Jetstream 41 fleet from British Airways Regional?

 

[Bigman]

lbaspotter..I hadn't forgotten about the NHS link...I never knew about it in the first place.

But you have actually mentioned two key words, namely cheap and quick. If LBA could come up with a 'cheap' option, I don't see why this couldn't take off. A jet could do the journery in about 30 minutes, so that is the 'quick'bit taken care of. If the predictions about Leeds's position in the shopping charts for next year is to be believed, then brings in the shoppers!!

 

[lbaspotter]

Its just been confirmed that Manx2.com are to be rebranded as Citywing after a management buy out.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-euro...f-man-20433164

I Guess this rebrand is related to the 2x aircraft incidents that manx2 have suffered in recent time. The high profile incident in Cork which included the loss of lives and the Isle of Man flight from Leeds which saw the aircraft slide of the runway after landing?