Thomas Cook

[Dobbo]

For some reason TCX seem to be short of aircraft today? JFK is being operated by a Wamos Air 747 and Holguin by an Evelop A333.

They have had tech problems - I think @User001 mentioned this in the movements thread.

 

[Yawner]

A340 heading in for TCX now. There is night and day between their approach to scheduling issues and that of AA.

 

[User001]

In some good news, Thomas Cook have now confirmed JFK is going to a full year round route, as previously the route ended in November and restarted in March.

Now, all winter will see a minimum of 3 weekly flights, Primarily on Mon/Thu/Sat. This means we now have 6 weekly flights to JFK over winter, so, at least some equilibrium has been restored.

 

[ethanegcc]

Great news! A really good development to restore some normality. Is 6x weekly VS 333 and TCX 332 (coupled with UA 752) more than last winter's offering?

 

[Dobbo]

Good to see some of the seasonal imbalance reversed. Cautiously optimistic about the US routes, but let's see where we are this summer...

 

[ethanegcc]

Any ideas how long the Wamos Air 747 will be operating for TCX for? I believe it is currently en-route from Cancun.

 

[ethanegcc]

View attachment 5448

 

[groobs]

Impressive fares for anyone willing to brave a New York winter!

 

[User001]

Thomas Cook are considering adding business class to its Manchester to USA routes as they investigate perusing more business and corporate traffic.

They said Manchester-New York would likely be the first route if they did add it.

This would be a huge step up if this goes ahead.

 

[Jerry]

Wonder if they would get a bigger aircraft for that? A333? Or A340?

 

[User001]

There would be more than enough room in the A332 fleet.

If it were to go ahead, it would likely be similar to the HD condor B767 which has 18 J class seats (condor also have a 2nd config which has 30 J seats).

The config could be something like 18/40/200 (current standard config is 49/273).

TCX are also going to add wifi to its A330 fleet, so, these 2 developments combined means that TCX really are check ing a force to be reckoned with.

I'm sure someone is listening to our conversations though, it's funny how just a few weeks ago we were talking about how TCX could add a J cabin to really take the market.

 

[Land23R]

I can see merit in it but would TCX become too much like Virgin, except that VS have the DL link for connections in the US?

If it did go ahead, it would be interesting to see how TCX set their J class fares compared with VS and the US carriers as well as levels of comfort and service.

 

[Dobbo]

Good to see. They will have some work to do to catch a business market, but the cabin would likely be small and it may largely be limited to "posh tourism".

Either way, it would force TCX's competitors to up their game on the route sectors if they start to loose market share.

This, plus the wifi upgrade, demonstrates the effect NAX has had on the marketplace.

 

[User001]

VS may be tied into DL, but, TCX would have the freedom to codeshare with many other airlines.

They already do so with JetBlue and Alaskan, and this could offer all reasonable destinations required for USA connections.

TCX have already said they are not looking at big business, as they know those business' will be tied into frequent flyer schemes and some may have requirements for F class travel too, but instead they are looking at small to medium business, so, one would expect fare to match their needs.

With this news, I wouldn't be surprised to see other US routes similar to the FRA hub, like PIT/AUS/SEA and perhaps DTW to tap into these areas of small to medium business.

 

[Jerry]

Well if they are watching this forum and taking ideas from here then that's good because it shows they are willing to listen to feedback from outside the company.

If they do see this post then any chance of CWL-MCO coming back for 2018?

 

[Dobbo]

I wonder if they try it at JFK (do they still have remote parking on the service there?) and possibly SFO/LAX before rolling it out to a wider route network. I'm sure there would be decent premium demand to the likes of Orlando and the Caribbean.

Generally encouraging news from the perspective of routes to the USA after a period of uncertainty.

 

[ethanegcc]

This is just what TCX needs to do to bring a 'full package' if you like to the US routes. Even 18 seats (would only take up three rows in 2-2-2 configuration) would be enough and would work brilliantly on the LAX/SFO and JFK routes.

 

[Jerry]

I wonder if you'll be able to get Mint Class with JetBlue and First Class with Alaska Airlines with the connections that are offered by Thomas Cook with those 2 airlines?

 

[Jerry]

Looks like MAN-HOG operated by OY-VKF is returning to MAN .

 

[Scottie Dog]

Looks like MAN-HOG operated by OY-VKF is returning to MAN .

Oil pressure on one engine falling but not expected to cause any problem before landing.